Illusory Reality
by xxFrozenSn0wxx
Summary: After dying at the hands of Orochimaru, Kyuubi saves him and he finds himself waking up as a ten year old brat, who has a family with the Yondaime as his father, but the worst is yet to come as Naruto discovers that he brought the snake along for the ride
1. Prologue

Author's Notes: Hope you guys like my new story! It may be a little confusing but I tried to make everything clear. Please review cuz if no one likes this story then I'll just stick to my other one! Sry if there are some mistakes. I wrote it in a rush!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**Illusory Reality**

Prologue

Naruto sighed, folding his arms behind his head as he lay beneath a lone tree under the clouds. Things could have been better but who was he to complain, right? He's worn his mask so long that he sometimes even fools himself. It was his ultimate defense against the glares and hateful words, against the world.

"Sasuke…"

It has been a few months after the betrayal of his supposed 'best friend,' but it has been much more hectic now that Sasuke was actually alive and back. The villagers were more than happy to have their Uchiha prodigy back, and Naruto couldn't have been more disgusted. His mask was cracking and he knew it. The others were beginning to notice as well and he couldn't slip up in front of them.

"Sasuke…you bastard…"

Naruto decided to distance himself from the others; he needed time to think without the constant ridicule and mockery of his intelligence. Don't get him wrong, though. Naruto loved his friends and village, but they have really taken a toll on him. Things were changing, he was changing and although he may change, the village would always be the same. They would never forgive him for taking away their precious Yondaime, no matter if he had completely no control over it. That's just the way his life was, and it was never going to change.

He had accepted it long ago, so why did it hurt so much?

"**It hurts because you are weak. You let your emotions ride and blind you. You may not be like the Uchiha, who was completely lost in the dark, but you too, are driven by your emotions.****"**

'Oh? And what are these emotions that you speak of, oh great immortal fox?'

"**Don****'****t mock me, brat.****"**

'Terribly sorry, your highness.' Naruto could hear the Kyuubi growling lowly in his mind and let a small pass his lips. 'So tell me, oh great and powerful ruler.'

"**You better shut your trap before I change my mind and don****'****t tell you at all.****"**

'Fine, fine. Please continue.'

"**Don****'****t say that like it****'****s a privilege, whelp.****"**

Naruto was about to reply, but the demon interrupted before he could get anything out. **"****You are the dirt beneath my feet, scum to the demon realm, the-"**

'Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…' Naruto pretty much just zoned out, figuring that the fox needed to vent. He got into this type of mode every once in while, but he didn't even bat an eyelash at it anymore.

"…**-eak, pathetic, useless monkey-"**

'Hey, hey, hey! Who are you calling a monkey!' He shouted in his mind, completely drifting over all the other insults.

The fox sighed exasperated, **"You are if that****'****s the only thing that you actually caught!****"**

'You actually expect me to listen to your rants? Nuh-uh, no way. Sorry, wrong number. Go find yourself a vessel that will be your brainless mind slave because this vessel ain't gonna be one of them.'

The blond just sighed when he received no reply. 'Listen, Kyuu I-'

"Naruto!" The blond turned to face a very angry and red-faced, pink haired fangirl. "Where the heck have you been? I've bee, looking for you everywhere!"

"Well, you found me. So what do you want?" Sakura almost face-faulted at his blunt reply, but ignored it.

"You didn't show up today."

Naruto didn't even bother looking up at her from his position on the ground. "Show up for what?" He knew what she was talking about.

"You know what I'm talking about!"

He almost laughed at the irony. "I'm sorry. I really don't. So, if you're not going to tell me, could your please leave and give me some peace and quiet?"

Sakura's face grew red with anger. "You baka! You're such an idiot!" She yelled.

"That's nothing new." He retorted. "But if you must know, I just thought that Sasuke would have easier time training without me holding him back." He stated calmly, enjoying the wind running over his face.

Sakura just narrowed her eyes, "I don't believe you! You just jealous of Sasuke-kun!" pointing her finger at him accusingly.

Naruto snapped his eyes open and sat up. His eyes staring at her, "You think I'm jealous?" Sakura couldn't tell if his voice sounded sad or angry, seeming like it was a mix of both. "I can't believe that you would think that! You don't know me at all." With that said, he stood up and walked away, walking away from her and so much more.

As he stood up she could have sworn that she heard him say, "Not that anyone ever has," as he passed her but maybe she just imagined it. Sakura couldn't help but feel that she touched a much deeper subject than she meant to or even realized. For some reason her conscience was screaming as her to call him back, but she didn't. Looking up and gazing at her teammate's back, Sakura made up her mind. With a determined face, "I'll apologize to him tomorrow," turning around, she then walked back to the village.

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Naruto sat at the bank of a stream under the shade of a tree with a knee pulled close to his chest and resting over his folded leg. He sighed heavily as he rested his forehead on his knee. He still couldn't believe the nerve of that girl.

"I can't believe that she thought I was jealous. Does she not know me at all?" He whispered to himself. Naruto ran their conversation over and over in his head again and again. He wasn't nearly as angry with her as he was disappointed.

"**Can you blame her, kit? You've had your veneer on so long that you can't see it from her point of view."**

Letting loose a small bitter laugh, the blond brought his eyes up to gaze at the ripples in the stream. 'Do you honesty think that she tried to know me from the beginning? That's a joke.' He hissed.

"**Did you give her or anyone else for that matter a chance?" **The nine-tails responded sharply.

'Why do you side with her? Honestly, turning on your own host. Am I that pathetic?'

"**Kit, I am taking no one's side, and even if I was do you truly think that I'd turn on you?"**

Naruto didn't reply and just listened. The demon understood and kept speaking. **"I'm not saying that you are the one at fault here."**

'So, I'm right then.'

"_**But**_**" **Kyuubi purposefully emphasized on that word. **"I'm not saying that she is either because, to be honest, I think that you're both wrong, but that's not the point."**

'I thought that was your point.'

"…**Shut up."**

'I really don't know why I acted the way I did.'

"**Perhaps it is time for the mask to be taken off and buried."**

'No, no. I'm not ready, even after so long. It's like I don't even know who I am anymore. Actually, I don't think I ever did.'

"**Then we will walk down that path together, kit."**

'How can you sound so sure?'

"**Someone has to do it…for the both of us."**

Naruto brought both of his knees close and wrapped his arms around them. He closed his eyes in exhaustion, burying his head onto his knees. 'I'm just so tired, Kyuu, so very tired. I don't think that I can keep this up any longer. All I want now is to rest…rest in peace...away from all the…harsh words…and dark glares.'

'Is that too much to ask, Kyuu?' This was the lingering thought that drifted softly from his mind right before the blond fell into a sleep filled with nightmares.

A soft voice responded back softly, **"No, kit, it's too little."** His answer was left with no reply, as the boy had already fallen into the shadows.

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"**Kit. Kit! KIT!"**

"H-huh?" Opening his eyes and standing in alarm.

"**Wake up, kit. Someone is approaching and he smells like a snake." **The fox growled low in his mind. **"I hate the smell of snakes." **He hissed with Naruto nodding in agreement.

'Should I go tell obaa-chan?'

"**No time. He's already here." **Naruto looked up in apprehension, his eyes landing on the face of the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru.

"How nice to see you, Naruto-kun." He spoke in a sweet hiss, which was contradicted greatly by his sick twisted smile that seemed to promise pain.

"What do you want, you bastard?" Naruto jeered at him calmly.

Orochimaru smile turned into a frown, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the demon vessel in front of him. "I came for Sasuke-kun, of course." His smile planted firmly on his face.

Naruto tensed and sneered at the man, speaking in a deadly calm tone underlined with anger and hatred. "He won't go with you."

Orochimaru just smirked at him. "We'll see about that now won't we?" Naruto growled in response, eyes flashing red.

"I must say that I am quite impressed that you actually brought him back to this weak village, Naruto-kun. We both know that he will never achieve his goals if he stays here, so he will always come back to me. His seal gave him a taste of the power that he can have if he comes with me. That's it, isn't it? You're standing in my way because you know that he will come to me eventually."

"Shut up!" He yelled.

The Snake Sannin just let out a malicious laugh. "I must pay you back for all the problems you have caused, setting back my plans. It doesn't matter anymore because you won't live to see tomorrow."

Naruto didn't bother to answer as the nine-tails' chakra swirled around his body. He grew claws and the whisper marks on his face became more pronounced. He charged at the Sannin, throwing a punch, which Orochimaru sidestepped, sending the blond a kick to the side, which he avoided. Naruto bent low and proceed to do a sweep, but Orochimaru jumped over it and twisted around to give him a roundhouse kick, sending Naruto through the air and into a tree.

Pain shot through his back as Naruto stood up, spitting the blood out of his mouth. Smiling bitterly, he used his favorite technique. "Let the games begin."

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"Hokage-sama!" A whole Anbu squad appeared, standing tensely before their leader.

"What?" Tsunade sighed irritably. She was tired and didn't feel like putting up with whatever they were going to say. The Anbu captain stepped forward and addressed the situation at hand. "A major chakra outburst appeared just a few miles beyond the Western Gate. It appears to be an attack to retrieve one, Uchiha Sasuke."

Tsunade sat up straight, her whole demeanor changing. Her eyes grew serious as the information swirled in her mind. "How can you be sure?"

"The same group of Sound nins that participated in the capture of the Uchiha months ago, are on the way, but that is not our only problem."

The Slug Sannin grew tense and nodded stiffly signaling the captain to continue. "Orochimaru is also on the way."

Standing up hastily, her eyes became hard, "Is he beside the others?"

"No. He is currently engaging in battle."

"Currently engaging­—with whom?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

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"What's wrong with him?!"

"He has suffered from multiple injures, going from fractured bones to internal bleeding. Your son was in critical condition, but he is currently stable."

"Stable? You call that stable?! He's wearing an air mask and has an infusion pump connected to his arm!"

"P-please calm down, Hokage-sama." The medic shrunk back nervously, just then a woman with short raven hair grabbed unto his arm. "Arashi, this isn't helping! Do you think this will make things better?" Arashi looked down at his wife, seeing the tear stains on her face and immediately felt guilty.

"I'm sorry, Yumi. (AN: I gave her the same name as the one in my other story!) I forgot that I'm not the only one who's in turmoil." Turning to the medic, he bowed his head in a silent apology, which he accepted with a nod of his own. He then turned back to his wife and held her tightly while they spoke with the medic.

"C-can we see him?" Yumi questioned anxiously.

The man just shook his head. "I'm sorry, but we are still healing his wounds. He may be stable, but the chances of him surviving through the night are slim."

Arashi's grip tightened around her. "W-what? Why didn't you mention this before?!" She shouted at him and looked ready to pounce on him, but her husband's grip held firm. Yumi turned into his embrace and started to cry into his robes.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Arashi asked desperately.

"Can you tell me how you found him?"

Arashi sighed, and then began speaking on what he had received in the report. "A huge chakra outburst appeared just outside of our border, so I sent an Anbu squad to scout it out, and he was found in the middle of the area without so much as another signature near the vicinity."

"I see…" Hurriedly writing something on his board, the man quickly bowed and excused himself back to a patient's room.

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He had no energy left to move on. Naruto may have the Kyuubi power but there was just so much that his body could take. His hard eyes scanned the trees when he heard a faint sound. Jumping up into a tree before the kunai struck the place he had been seconds before. Orochimaru was far ahead of him though and the blond never saw the kanata that was stabbed through his back and ending on the other side.

"**KIT!!!"**

Falling to the ground and rolling unto his back, Naruto's glazed eyes landed on the Sanke Sannin as he approached. Licking the blood, Orochimaru sick smile grew twice as wide as before, piercing him one more time through his naval and hearing the earsplitting scream that pasted through the vessel's lips.

Hands still holding the katana, Orochimaru bent down to Naruto's ear. "I'll be sure to tell Sasuke-kun how sweet your death was."

He was dying and he knew it. No one could save him now, he thought as the life in his eyes faded away.

"**I won't have it end this way, kit!"**

Suddenly, the seal glowed with intensity around the katana, which was pierced right in the middle of his naval and the seal. Red chakra poured out of Naruto's body, enveloping both Orochimaru and him. It swirled around them uncontrollably and grew larger with every second.

"What's happening?!" The snake grabbed the blond's shoulders and gripped them hard, shaking him roughly, but still received no response.

With that the red chakra shrunk and wrapped around the two of them before they disappeared in a blinding light.

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"Ugh…my head…" Naruto moaned, bringing a bandaged hand up to his head before opening his eyes. "I'm in the hospital?" His cerulean eyes scanned the nicely lavished room. He was apparently residing in one of the nicer rooms because he had his very own bathroom connected to his room. Tilting his head to the side in confusion, wondering why he was there in the first place. "What? They must have forgotten that they're treating the demon." He mumbled bitterly.

Naruto raised his hand on to his throat. "Wait, m-my voice…" Scrambling out of the bed, ignoring his injures and the pain shooting through his body, he ran into the bathroom and turned to the mirror and stared…and stared.

Making sure to count to ten and take deep breaths, the blond reined his voice in and made sure to keep control. He wasn't going to lose it, not now, at least.

"What the hell? Is this some kind of joke? A genjutsu?" He stared into his reflection. "No, then what is it?" Naruto hadn't changed much…expect for the fact that he was…oh, I don't know…ten! "Well, maybe eleven. I don't know."

"I'll just ask Kyuubi about it. He has to know what's going on."

He tried numerous times to call out to the fox mentally, but there was no answer. The connection seemed to be blocked as if it ceased to exist at all. Gazing at his reflection again, he paled as the information sank in. His face…the whisker marks were gone. Fear dawned in his eyes and gripped at his heart.

'Kyuubi…oh no, I-I have to see him!'

Naruto hurried back to his bed and began to get ready to mediate. He tried to make himself comfortable before he heard the door open and an Anbu mask popping in. On instinct, Naruto quickly opened the window, cursing under his breath. Hopping onto the ledge, he grumbled, "What, they're guarding my door now?" He then jumped out and scaled the building with his right arm, which was less injured. After jumping out, Naruto could hear the other Anbu guards running in and calling after him. "Naruto-sama!"

'Since when have they called me that?' He cringed at the pain running through his arm. The cuts must have reopened and blood was soaking through them. 'My chakra control sucks! I won't be able to stay on much longer. I'm losing control!' He could barely stay on the building before his control gave out. Luckily, he was low enough to flip and land gracefully onto a rooftop. Glancing back briefly, he turned around and made a sprint in the direction of the forest.

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Arashi was annoyed. No, he was beyond annoyed, he was annoyed _and_ frustrated. He had been trying to work on his paperwork all day, but couldn't because all he could think about was his son.

Seven days. That's how long his son has fallen into a coma after making it through the first night. He could barely eat. He couldn't sleep. He couldn't think about anything else, and it was driving him mad. Running a hand nervously through his hair, Arashi sighed warily. This was how he always got when one of his children got hurt or sick.

Tapping his fingers against his desk restlessly, he thought of his son for the umpteenth time that day. Naruto was about to turn eleven, and on the verge of becoming a shinobi, but Arashi wasn't sure if his son could survive in the shinobi world. Of course, he never doubted his son's potential, he was just worrying, but he had reason to worry. Naruto wasn't the brightest of his class, in fact, he was dead last.

What made it worse was that he was also arrogant and stuck up because he was the Hokage's son. He was stubborn and possessive and threw tantrums when he didn't have things go his way. He also despised his siblings, claiming that he was spending all his time with them, but the truth was that his son was just pushing him away.

Arashi hated to think these things of Naruto, but all the facts were there and he couldn't deny them. Arashi loved Naruto dearly, but sometimes he just wished that he turned out differently. The way that he imagined his son to be like. He would admit that he has been very lenient in Naruto's case and he has given him everything he has ever wanted, spoiling him rotten. But one can't buy love, it just isn't possible.

"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!" The blonde hokage looked up from the pile of paperwork that he had been staring at for the pass hour, gazing at the Anbu that had just burst through his office doors.

Raising an eyebrow in question, the Yondaime fixed his eyes on him. The said Anbu shifted slightly in embarrassment. "I-I have news on your son."

Within a second the Fourth was on his feet and in front of the other shinobi, displaying the speed that earned their leader the name of the Yellow Flash of Konoha. "How is he? Is something wrong? Has he woken up? Is he alright?" He shot out questions faster than the other could comprehend. Stunned speechless, the Anbu just gawked at the Yondaime. Good thing he was wearing a mask or he would have looked like a fool.

Arashi waited for an answer and quickly grew impatient. Folding his arms around his chest, he tapped his foot on the floor. "Well?"

The other shinobi seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in before straightening up with whatever dignity he had left. "I have good and bad news, Hokage-sama. Which would you prefer to hear first?"

"The good." The reply came automatically as the Yondaime's gaze became more intense, causing the other to shift nervously. "Naruto-sama has indeed woken up." Arashi's eyes shifted to the door, growing restless. He needed to see it for himself!

"The bad?" He asked hurriedly, staring longingly at the door.

The Anbu member's head bowed down and he mumbled something that the Fourth didn't quite catch. "I can't hear you. Could you speak louder?"

"Err…we can't…umm…find him."

"What?!"

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Tsunade hastily gathered as many Anbu squads that were available and ran off to the exact area where the huge outburst came from. The whole vicinity for a quarter of a mile was destroyed, leaving a wide but shallow crater. It was obvious that the battle was fierce, but the question on all their minds was left unanswered.

_Who won?_

Of course, they all suspected that Orochimaru had won, but one should _never_ and I mean never, as in never ever underestimate the nine-tails fox demon, Kyuubi's power. Orochimaru wasn't present at all and when the Sound nins hastily retreated in fear, they had to assume that it was because their leader was gone.

So, it was on that day that Tsunade, with a broken heart, announced to the village that Uzumaki Naruto had died in battle bringing Orochimaru with him.

"You're lying!! You're lying!! YOU'RE AL LIARS!!" Everyone looked to see Sakura crying hysterically and being held back by Lee and Ino. She fell in a crumpled heap onto the ground and promptly broke down.

"I-I n-never got to tell him h-how sorry I was."

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Yay! I'm done with the beginning! Just a reminder that if you guys don't like the story then I'll just discontinue it and stick to my other story! So, review please!!

Hope you enjoyed it and see you next time!!

Well, that was the last time that I'm going to be writing about Naruto's original world or at least for a while. I know that it might be a bit confusing, but I like it in that order so I hope that you guys could stay with it!

Much Love!

xxFrozenSn0wxx


	2. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Hey guys!! Hope you guys like the story so far. I wasn't sure if I should keep it up, but I'll try!! Check out my other story as well!! Everything has been so crazy lately with school just ending and all! Please Review!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

**Illusory Reality**

Chapter 1

"I don't believe this. Let's see…I wake up, okay that's a check." Naruto mentally checked that off his list. "Then, I find out that I'm like ten or something to find out that the ANBU are guarding my doors."

Grabbing his hair, Naruto let out a scream in frustration. He immediately slapped a hand over his mouth in case any guards were patrolling in the area. Sighing in relief, he walked to the same part of the forest in which Orochimaru technically killed him. Naruto looked down at the bandages on his arms, finding the blood stains all over them, but kept them on.

"I need to find out what the hell is going on." His beautiful cerulean eyes stared calculating at the forest around them. Something wasn't right. Well, something didn't _feel _right, at least.

"This area should be destroyed to say the least." Naruto trailed his hand, lingering the side of the tree that he feel asleep on after his run-in Sakura and before his fight with the snake.

He ran all sorts of different ideas through his head to see how he could possibly get the information that he needed.

'I could always use henge and change my appearance into one of a villager's then go around asking random people for the information that I need.' Sitting at the base of the tree, he adopted the exact same position he was in before as well. "Talk about déjà vu." He whispered with a small bitter smile.

"I need to talk to Kyuu." Naruto sat down and criss-crossed his legs comfortably in front of him. He emptied his mind and began to mediate, searching for the demon fox's presence.

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It was a strange sensation. Naruto would always end up in the fox's cell, but this place was like a different plane. He was in the middle of no where with fog everywhere, covering his vision. Naruto started to walk straight and saw a shadow looming in the distance.

"Kyuu?" He walked a little faster.

Naruto then began jogging. "Kyuu!"

"KYUU!" He picked up speed and started to run for all his worth. "KYUU!"

"**Quiet, brat, I'm trying to sleep."**

With that, the nine-tails demon fox became visible but he wasn't in his cell. He was lying curled up in a ball with its tails wrapped around him. Naruto looked up to meet crimson eyes staring right back at him.

The blond didn't even hesitate before running to the demon and hugging one of his tails regardless of their being no cell bars in between. The tails wrapped around his body in a comforting embrace. "I…I thought you were gone for good, Kyuu. The whisker marks were gone and I couldn't feel you anymore and…"

Naruto began to babble, which was muffled because the blond still had his head stuffed in the fox's fur. When he finally finished and gazed up, he once again saw the demon staring at him with amusement and…affection?

"**You haven't been able to feel my presence because my chakra levels are extremely low, so I'm trying to wait till my reserves are back to normal. Now go away and let me rest." **The Kyuubi said tiredly.

The chuunin sighed in relief, nuzzling his face in the fur one more time before steeping away. "Okay, but you have to explain what's going on later, alright?

The only response he got was a low growl which he took as a yes. "Feel better, Kyuu." He gave the fox a pet and turned around, walking back into the fog, but he was completely out of sight he heard him say something. **"Don't do anything foolish, kit. Things are different here. Be careful."**

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Naruto blinked groggily, wondering where he was when everything came rushing back to him. 'Things are different here? What did he mean by that?' Naruto wondered. Shaking his head, he breathed in the fresh air and relaxed against the tree.

Resting his head on the stump, Naruto lost himself in the silent music that the forest gave off. It always gave him a sense of belonging; he loved everything about the wilderness. His eyes gazed up at the sky, seeing the light seeping through the darkness of the morning.

Sighing in pleasure, the blond blocked all the wandering and unwanted thoughts in his mind for later and just enjoyed this part of his life where no one judged him. After all…

…It was the dawn of a new day.

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"What do you mean he's gone?!"

"Err…"

Sighing and rubbing his temple tiredly, Minato pushed down the panic that was bubbling on the surface. One more push and he knew that he would lose it, dignity be damned.

"Kakashi," The ANBU captain stepped forward from his squad, removing his mask and settling it on the side of his. "You were the one guarding him, so can you tell me what happened?"

Kakashi spoke cautiously, knowing that his sensei was on the edge. "I heard some movement inside, so I decided to check while Bird guarded the door."

Minato nodded on for the report to continue. "Once his saw me, he acted unexpectedly, opening the window and jumping onto the ledge." The Fourth immediately paled at that implication.

"How high were you?"

"The eighth floor." This caused the blond to sputter in shock.

Kakashi looked worried but kept on going. "He then jumped out, scaling the wall with one arm, using his chakra control." Minato didn't trust himself to speak and just waited for the rest.

Kakashi kept going. "He then lost control after making it down about five stories and fell. But he managed to flip and landed gracefully on a nearby rooftop." Adding the last part hastily before he gave his sensei a heart attack about the part where his son fell. "Well, that's it. He just made his way toward the forest by rooftops."

Minato just stared at his student with a stumped and dumbfounded expression.

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Naruto sighed in disappointment. He wanted to stay here forever and just get lost in time, looking up at the sky. The only thing that Naruto loved more than the sky during the day is the sky during the night.

It was something that he loved to do more then anything, not matter what everyone else thought.

He stood up and dusted his clothes; once again his eyes are lingering on the stained bandages on his arms. He could feel the bandages under his shirt start to itch, but he didn't mind too much so he ignored it.

'There was no way that I got out of that fight with Orochimaru with so little injures. Kyuu must have healed me to an extent that I could survive on.' Naruto thought sadly, again pushing the thoughts behind him for later.

Walking a different path out of the forest, Naruto took caution to make sure that he wasn't seen by anyone, but just to be certain he henged into a plain looking villager. He was obviously still a child wearing simple clothing with black hair and brown eyes to blend into the crowd and go on unnoticed.

He got into the village, making no eye contact with anyone and walked the path to his apartment. Passing the Hokage Mountain, he didn't notice that there were only the carvings of the four hokages on the mountain.

He went down the same path he followed every day of his life since he was four years old. Stopping in confusion at where his apartment used to be, he stood there unmoving. His apartment wasn't there...it was just gone, as if it didn't ever exist. He took some short harsh breaths and looked around wildly in panic.

'Where is my apartment? What happened to all my things? What the heck is happening? I...I don't know what in the world is going on...' Naruto's breathing started to calm down and he just stood there staring at the empty patch of area.

Naruto's eyes filled with pain and distress. His eyes grew glassy as he bowed his head. His apartment, his home was gone. It was one the place where he could hide; it was his haven. When he was a child, it was where none of the villagers could get him and could cry where no one else could see. It was one place where he was himself. It may not have been much, but it was a sentimental kind of thing. It was his home...

'...and now it's gone.' He thought as he turned around and made his way back to the forest.

'I might as well get rid of some of my worked up aggression through a bit of training.' Once he was in the forest, he dropped the henge and ran back to the area in which he appeared in. Well, he wasn't completely sure, but he assumed so and took his chances.

"I hope they're here somewhere, come on." His hands wandered into a bush and ran over something leathery and pulled out his weapon pouch. Stepping over it, he found the rest of his weapons scattered on the floor. "I knew it!" He exclaimed.

After finding the remaining weapons, he found a nice tall tree. "Here we go again. At least I have better chakra control then I did back then when I was this age." Or at least that's what he figured since he was able to scale a building.

Taking out a kunai, he concentrated his chakra and charged toward the tree, getting up about five steps before the bark started to crack. 'Too much.' Making his mark on the tree, he landed in a poised position and launched himself at the tree again, but this time lessened the amount of chakra in his feet.

It didn't take too long before Naruto had perfected his control. The first time around really helped, much to his surprise, given by the experience and the complete understanding of the exercise.

After that, Naruto decided to also perfect the chakra control in his arms, as well. He did this by using his feet to run up the tree and then jumping down, pumping chakra into his arms and trying to slow his descent. First, he did it with two arms and then with one. He had never done this before, besides using it to send a chakra enforced punch, but when he thought of Sakura the idea just struck him. This was of course, much harder than using his feet, but he was able to master it right before nightfall.

"I guess I'll work on climbing up trees with my arms tomorrow." He mumbled to himself, holding his stomach while it grumbled loudly from lack of food. "Man, I'm starving!"

'What am I going to do? I have no money, no home...and no food.' The last part made the blond drop his head gloomily, causing his stomach grumble once again. 'Man, I'm a hobo!'

'I sure hope that the ANBU aren't looking for me anymore.' Just then two ANBU guards, wearing a cat and bird mask appeared right in front of him, blocking his path.

"Naruto-sama, may we escort you to the Hokage Tower?" Naruto knew that wasn't a question but merely a statement if he ever thought of refusing.

"Damn, I have like the worst luck." Naruto whispered under his breath aware that the guards heard him. The blond looked up at them with a hint of a smirk on his cute little face. "No thank you." He responded shortly, and then walked past them.

While passing them, the ANBU didn't see him perform a hand seal, so when he completely passed them, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves. "Naruto-sa—where'd he go?" The two searched the street and practically the whole vicinity, but put it on hold to report their find to the Fourth.

"This will be embarrassing." Cat stated while they traveled to the Tower on the rooftops.

Bird tilted his head to the side. "How so?"

"We just lost a ten-year old in five seconds. Us, the ANBU, the elite of the elite lost a ten-year old."

"Oh. I see your point. Well, nothing we can do now, though I do wonder how the kid pulled it off." Bird sighed while Cat nodded in agreement.

Both of them poofed into the Hokage's office, what they saw was a blond haired Kage pacing back and forth, waiting for any reports. Minato snapped his head toward them and they began their report to avoid all of the frantic father's questions.

The guards explained to the Fourth how they found the boy but lost him in a way that they couldn't explain; he just disappeared. After they were finished, the Yondaime just stared at them for the second time that day with a stumped expression. This only left him with more questions that he didn't have answers to and that made him feel uncomfortable. He had to find his son and he wasn't going to rest until he found him.

Standing up abruptly, the Yondaime made his way the door. "You are dismissed. Keep searching the grounds. I will be joining the search, as well."

And with that Konoha's Yellow Flash was gone.

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Naruto was by now on the other side of the village when the two guards began to search for him after he disappeared on them.

'Again with the 'Naruto-sama.' What is that supposed to mean? I need to have answers now.' With that thought in his head, he made up his mind to proceed with his original plan. So, he henged into an older middle-aged villager this time and walked his way into the village.

His first stop was the library to see if he could find out anything that happened around the time the Kyuubi was supposed to attack. Upon walking in, he searched between shelves and shelves of books and scrolls until he found what he was looking for.

It happened to be a book on the history of the hokages, so he flipped to the end section of the book, going straight to the Yondaime's history and the day the Kyuubi attacked the village and he began reading.

_It is said that the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox was summoned in a forbidden ritual by enemy nins sent to destroy Konoha, but nothing is certain. The Yondaime, who had just been recently promoted to the position o f the Fourth Hokage was forced upon a situation that has made him the legend that he is today._

_The day the Kyuubi attacked, the Yondaime was also blessed with the birth of his son. It is also said that it is impossible to completely kill a demon, so the only way to be rid of them is so seal it into something or rather someone, who would act as a container of sorts._

_It isn't possible to seal a demon into just anyone, though. The vessel must be a newborn because their chakra pathways are newly formed and both the demon and the child's chakra will begin to become more compatible, expanding his inner pathways with the excess chakra as the container grows older. If one is to try to seal a demon in an adult, the ritual would result in a failure and the death of the vessel due to the person's already formed and developed chakra pathways. _

_Unfortunately, the only way to be rid of the demon was to seal it into his very own son. _

Naruto closed the book with a snap and hastily pushed the book back to its respected place before running out of the library and making a beeline toward the Hokage Mountain and the whole while thinking, 'The Yondaime was my father?' Once he reached the area, he stared at the mountain with mixed feelings. The mountain only had four heads on it.

'Where is Tsunade? What the hell is going on?!' He asked that for the millionth time that day. He may have been able to get some answers, but they only led to more questions that were left unanswered.

"What does all this mean?" He whispered to himself. "Seeing the Hokage is obviously out of the question until I find all the answers that I need at least."

He changed directions, dropping the henge and spinning abruptly around only to run smack dab into the broad stomach of someone. Picking himself off the floor, he didn't bother looking at the person's face as he mumbled an apology. As he passed the person, the man quickly grabbed his wrist spinning him around before he could comprehend what just happened. His instincts immediately took over; he lifted his left leg, resting his ankle on his pursuer's wrist and adding pressure, allowing him to break free of the grip.

Jumping back a few feet, in what he deemed was a far enough distance to get a good look at the man before him; he came face to face with the Yondaime Hokage.

"Naruto…" Minato stepped forward, reaching out for him.

Naruto's eyes widened. 'H-he's alive?! Oh why didn't I read the rest of the passage in that book?' Smacking himself mentally for being so impatient. Naruto composed himself, avoiding the man's gaze as he thought of a plan.

'Okay, okay, okay! Calm down, Naruto. Whatever you do, don't freak out. You know better than that. Stay calm and don't panic. Deep breaths, okay good, in, out, in, out. Okay that's good. It's all good.' Naruto took some deep breaths and began to run the situation in his mind from different perspectives.

"Naruto?" He looked up and was taken aback by the love and concern he saw in his… "Father's" eyes.

'Of all the—damn, I really don't have time for this right now.' Naruto cursed in his mind.

"_Things are different here. Be careful."_ Naruto's eyes widened when he remembered what the fox had said. Is this what he meant?

'I need an out.' His eyes scanned the area for any possible escape route, but this was the Yondaime he was trying to escape, which made it nearly impossible.

Narrowing his eyes, he tilted his head questionably. 'I need answers. I might as well play oblivious for now. It's time to put my acting skills to the test, but only until I get the answers that I need' Stepping back, fearfully Naruto looked the other man in the eyes with no recognition showing in them.

"Do I know you?"

With that, Minato felt his world crumbling down around him.

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Hope you guys enjoyed!! Please check out my other story as well. It's called Orphaned Legacy!! Please comment and review!! If you guys have any suggestions than don't

hesitate to tell me!!

Much Love!

xxFrozenSn0wxx


	3. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Hey guys! I'm sorry about the long wait! I had it all written down but I just couldn't find the time to type it out. I have something important to say, so I hope that you read this and it doesn't confuse anyone! I've decided to change something in the precious chapter, so you guys can check it out again if it doesn't make sense. **So, I have changed it from Naruto having one sister to Naruto having one or two more siblings added to that! **

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**Illusory Reality**

Chapter 2

"W-what?"

'Please fall for this! I need to get away, but how?' Naruto thought pleadingly. He looked up to see that the Fourth was just staring at him with an expression that he's never seen before. His face seemed to read between a cross of being heartbroken and panicking.

"Naruto, it's me—y-your tousan." Minato pleaded, his eyes expressing all the feelings that were running through him at that moment.

"I don't need-" Before Naruto knew it, he was swept into the Fourth's embrace and lifted bridal style as he took off in a certain direction. "W-what are you doing?!" He exclaimed, trying to wriggle free of the tight grip.

Minato glanced down at him. "I'm taking you to the hospital." He spoke in a firm voice, leaving him no room for argument, but Naruto was never one to give in so easily.

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"Naruto."

"No."

"Naruto." This time he knew he was walking on thin ice.

"Look, _sir_," Naruto made sure to put emphasize on that word. "First, you pretty much assault me, and then you bring me here against my will." He started to count them off by tapping each of his fingers. "I don't give a rat's ass if you're the Fourth Hokage or…whatever else you said."

For a brief moment, there was a pain that flashed through his eyes. It almost made Naruto feel guilty and apologize, but he held strong. Well, not really. He sighed, "I'm sorry, I guess." Whispering so Minato barely caught it and he showed the surprise on his face.

The Yondaime smiled and then snorted in amusement. "Assault? Is that what you call this? Taking my own child to the hospital is now referred to as assault. I'll remember that next time we make a visit."

Naruto crossed his arms defiantly and pouted, "I don't do hospitals, okay? Call it a phobia built after long amounts of time spent here." The blond tried to explain in a way that would make some sort of sense without actually having to say it.

Minato's eyes narrowed at that statement. "And when did you spend long amounts of time here?" He looked right in Naruto's eyes for an answer, but the boy turned his head away to avoid his gaze.

At the moment, Naruto was inwardly berating himself for his slip. 'I'm such an idiot! How am I supposed to get out of this now?!' He took easy way and just ignored the question and didn't bother to answer.

"Naruto."

"No."

Minato gave out a frustrated sigh and ran his hand through his hair clearly agitated. 'We're back exactly where we started!' He thought and brought his hand up to rub his temple. "This is giving me a headache."

"Yeah, well, you're not exactly my idea of fun either."

Minato just sighed once again as he heard the medics and ANBU in the room snickering behind him. When did his son get a sense of humor?

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Minato sighed in relief as the tests were finally over. Maybe this was why his son didn't want to do them. He felt sorry for Naruto and he was the one that was doing the watching too. The conversed quietly with the medics and gave out another sigh, but this time it was in frustration as he ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair.

"Come on, Naruto. Let's go home." Minato spoke softly, putting his hand on his son's shoulder. He frowned when he felt the blond make an almost unnoticeable flinch and stiffen, but he quickly recovered from it.

'Is he reacting to my touch or my words?' Something deep in the Fourth's mind spoke, but was easily brushed off and ignored.

Naruto paid no attention to the other man with his eyes fully focused on the ground, but his mind everywhere else. '_Home. _He said home, like I belong there…as if I'm a part of something.' He snuck a glance at the Fourth through the corner of his eye, and the other man caught his gaze, turning slightly and smiled at him. Naruto quickly turned his head away, a small blush tinged across his face from embarrassment. He then felt something on his head and looked up to see a hand resting lightly on his head, brushing his hair a bit. And even though Naruto knew he would deny it later, he basked him in the warmth that he felt from this father-son moment. He didn't need words to make this instant in time more special than it already was, just because it wasn't possible.

Naruto's eyes started to droop and his body was pretty wary from all the action that he had seen today. His body was aching, but he hid it well enough, or so he thought. His feet shuffled against the ground, and with his eyes nearly closed he didn't see what was up ahead.

"Whoa, watch it there. Are you alright?" An arm wrapped around his shoulder and gently steered him away from the pit that lay in the middle of the road. "I should really get someone to fix that." Minato whispered to himself.

"Naruto?" The arm around him tightened and pulled him in another direction that almost caused him to fall, regaining his balance by stumbling and of course the helpful hand that lay on his shoulder.

"Huh?" He looked up and shook his head a bit. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired I guess."

Naruto didn't hear whatever else that the Fourth, as he now dubbed him as, was saying, but just kept on walking. "Naruto?" Minato questioned once again.

Naruto smiled tiredly up at him, "You must really like my name, don't you?"

The older blonde turned his head toward him and Naruto saw a huge smile plastered on his face, and Naruto tilted his head in confusion which only served for Minato's smile to grow even wider if that was even possible.

"Yup! I'm the one who chose it, you know." Minato stated, looking extremely proud of himself. Naruto just rolled his eyes, "Oh, so you're the one I should blame for my lame name then, huh?" he retorted, laughing lightly as Minato made a grab for him and missing.

"Okay, that's it. Get on." Naruto turned back and saw the Fourth turn around and kneel looking at him expectantly. "Come on, at the pace we're going at we'll never get there on time for dinner, and you know how your mother gets when that happens." Minato gave a small shudder if only for added effect.

With a sigh, Naruto nodded and climbed on the other's back. Naruto gave a yell of surprise when the Fourth hefted him up and onto his shoulders; he really didn't expect for something like that to happen and it nearly made him fall for the umpteenth time that day.

"Naruto?"

Chuckling in amusement, Naruto lowered his head into the Fourth's blonde mess. "Back to the name thing again, are you?"

Minato laughed with him when he figured it out. "I guess I am. So, what's up?"

The said boy sighed into the man's hair, and lifted his head. "Do you," Naruto hesitated and continued on with Minato's silent and patient encouragement. "Do you ever wonder what life would be like if something happened to change it all?"

The Fourth didn't speak but tilted his head a bit in confusion, so Naruto fumbled for the right words in order to explain what he meant, flapping his arms a bit to the amusement of the man carrying him.

"It's like something happens that can alter a whole sequence of events, making them inflexible and those events changed the way you are and the way others and world around you looks at you, judging you before they even know you, condemning you for something you had no control over." Naruto paused for a moment, closing his eyes and letting a out a breath, "Is that fair?" he whispered, his hands playing with the other's silky golden locks and threading them through his fingers. "Is it?" He asked again in an even softer tone that it was barely audible.

Naruto didn't really expect any answer and they stayed in relative silence for a while, so he a little surprised at what the Fourth had said. "No."

Naruto was surprised how just one word gave him reassurance and that this man could possibly understand and that he didn't just seal the Kyuubi in him for a noble purpose but because he had the best of intentions and for now that was enough. He just hoped that the Yondaime of his world had the same ideals, in which he had no doubt of. Resting his chin on his "Father's" head, Minato was sure that he could feel his son's smile and couldn't help but do the same.

Minato's mind was jumbled and confused as his son's suddenly profound insight at life. His mind was racing through at his sudden change and how much awareness he seemed to have about the delicacy between life and death, and still be so calm about it. It almost looked like he had accepted that people die a long time ago and there is absolutely nothing you can do once it is done. When had this happened? All of these things may have been true, but for a child—his child that's not even a shinobi yet to come to these revelations was disheartening. Perhaps it was Naruto's own brush with death that had brought all of this up. Minato's blood ran cold at that concept and pain gripped his heart as that thought ran through his mind, hoping above all else that he was mistaken, totally and utterly mistaken in his assumption.

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Naruto followed Minato inside and as he walked through the door, he saw Arashi hugging someone, but he couldn't see who it was. He then saw a woman look behind the blonde and gave him a kind of look that he didn't recognize.

'Wait, what is a woman doing here? Unless…she's my…mother…'

While Naruto stood there and letting his thoughts break free, Minato was explaining to his wife what had occurred earlier that day in a hushed tone. "-and he didn't recognize me at all, so I brought him to the hospital, but they didn't find anything abnormal. So, they said that his memory loss could possibly be from stress and overdoing it a bit, but it should come back any day now."

Kushina looked at him horrified, but then changed it to one that didn't look happy at all. "I told you that you were putting too much pressure on him, but no, you just had to keep pushing-"

Kushina stopped short when she found her son staring at her in a curious light and it broke her heart to see that he didn't recognize his own mother. She put a strained smile on her face and walked over to him. "Hey honey, I'm glad that you're home. We'll talk about your behavior today tomorrow." _If you remember. _Letting those words silently trail behind.Naruto was too stunned to say anything. This was his mother. He was surprised at the air of confidence and power that she gave off. It was pretty obvious, though, that she was never trained as a ninja but she was beautiful in Naruto's mind. She looked quite young for someone of her age with a petite body and long fiery red hair that went down to her mid-back, tied back in a low ponytail with bangs that framed her face perfectly. She also had deep green eyes and wore a simple shirt and skirt that showed off her curves nicely. All and all, Naruto thought she was perfect and loved not only the way she looked but the aura she tended to give off, as well. It was warm and loving like any mother's should be, but all this was completely new to Naruto and he liked the feel of it.

He gave her a weak smile in return. She must have noticed, bending down and kissing him on the forehead before wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Naruto couldn't express the things he was feeling into words and almost felt like crying right then and there.

'I probably would if there was no one to see it, though.' Something in his mind spoke and he would have agreed with it if it weren't for his pride.

Naruto's eyes landed on something beyond her and saw a baby girl sat there, staring at him from across the room and widened in realization.

'Who…I have a baby sister?!' Naruto didn't know how many more surprises he could take today, but he knew that it wouldn't be many more before he had a heart attack or something. He was quite proud of the fact that he has kept his cool and had not had any outbursts all day, which was a first, but he knew that he couldn't slip up out here just in case.

Kushina released him, giving him another kiss in the same spot before crossing the room, picking Hana up and preparing to leave. For some odd reason, Hana would always cry when the blond boy would enter the same room as her, well besides during meals when their parents were able to calm her. It was a wonder that not even they could explain. It was as if she just couldn't stand his presence.

So, they assumed that this time would be no different from all the other times. To their surprise, though, Hana neither cried nor complained about staying as she started to grow restless and tried to wriggle out of her mother's grip. Kushina hesitantly set her little feet on the ground and watched with shocked eyes as Hana slowly waddled her way towards Naruto.

Kushina tried to gently call her back, but the four-year old didn't listen with her big brown eyes trained on the blond. She stepped forward but Minato laid a hand on her shoulder. Turning to him, all she received was a small nod and Kushina stepped back uncertainly. Naruto had never really liked Hana from the moment he saw her and she didn't know how he would respond with her so close.

Kushina has wished almost every day that her babies would finally get along, but the chances of it happening any time soon was hopeless she realized. Maybe she just needed to have trust in Hana's judgment and also in Naruto, as well.

Naruto was taken aback, he didn't know how to react or what to do…but this was his sister who was made by the same flesh and blood and that thought amazingly filled his heart with warmth.

Breathing out a small sigh, Naruto crouched down to eye level, balancing on the balls of his feet and wrapping his arms around his knees. He didn't have much experience with toddlers, heck, he didn't have any, but he was willing to give it a try.

Their eyes connected and he just waited until she stopped about a foot away from him. They stayed in that position and stared without blinking. Well, that was until Naruto ruined it by tilting his head to the side cutely and blinked in confusion.

'What is she going?' He thought.

Suddenly, Hana squealed after their little staring contest and launched herself at him with her tiny arms enveloping themselves around his neck. Naruto's eyes widened in shock, then wrapped his arms around her small body instinctively as they toppled onto the floor. With the added weight and unexpected surprise, he lost his balance and fell on his bottom with his sister held tightly against his chest.

Only one thing was running frantically through Naruto's mind at that moment. 'What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?'

He lay on the floor, his eyes desperately searching for some kind of help, but his parents were a bit busy gawking at the scene with mouths hanging open and eyes bugging out, and so he just mentally sighed trusting his instincts. Hana began nuzzling her head into his chest and blinking her half-lidded eyes at him. Naruto smiled at her, slowly lifting himself off the floor while he cradled her against his chest.

He looked up, seeing his parents looking at him with something akin to shock and disbelief.

"I'm gonna put her to bed now, okay?" The two just nodded slowly. He turned and hefted her up a bit, walking down the hallway. 'Which one is hers?' The chuunin walked past a room with pink walls and fluffy bunnies and other stuffed animals lying around which caused him to backtrack. "Do I even need to ask? That was easier than I thought."

Walking into the room, he tried to avoid the dozens of toys that were thrown carelessly across the floor. _Squeak!_ He froze and looked down at his foot that was currently on top of what looked like an orange fox. Naruto removed his foot, making sure that Hana was still asleep and gently picked up the toy. Reaching the crib, he lowered his sister down leisurely only to find that her arms had encircled around his neck and wouldn't let go. He dropped the fox into the crib and held his sister.

"Onii-chan…"

'Uh…crap! I never got her name. What do I do now?!' He panicked inwardly, of course, because it wouldn't do to have someone see him like that. Naruto snorted at that. 'Yeah, right, I'm shameless and I know it!'

"Hey, sweetie, you need to let go of my neck so you can go to bed." He felt her locks tickling his cheek slightly as she shook her head in refusal. "Come on, please?" He once again tried to lower her body, but she stubbornly held on with her legs flailing under her as she hung onto him as if he were some lifeline.

He could feel a headache coming on, as he groaned and brought her back into him arms. Naruto gave the room a quick once over to see if he could catch anything that might give him a clue. That's when he caught sight of a framed birth certificate hanging proudly on the wall. 'Ah! Jackpot!'

"Okay, okay. I get the point, but what do I have to do, Hana-chan?" He asked desperately. "Is it begging? Is that what you want? Nii-san will beg on his hands and knees if you want." The blond asked shamelessly.

"No!" The little bundle in his arms shouted and fell into a fit of giggles. "Then, what?" Naruto sighed in mock exasperation, but the small smile on his face threw that whole act out the window.

"Tell me a story, nii-san." Naurto gave her a strange look before scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Nii-san doesn't know any stories, but how about next time?" Inwardly Naruto was crossing his fingers hoping—no, praying that she would say yes.

"Promise?"

Naruto didn't think anyone would have the heart to say no to the look on his sister's face. He smiled, "Of course, I promise."

"Okay." Came the soft reply. The blond sighed outwardly in relief and began to think of a song. Then it came to him, the song that he would always hear the old caretaker at the orphanage sing to the other children but _conveniently _never sang to him.

After he finished, Naruto looked over his shoulder to see Hana sleeping soundly. He walked toward the crib silently thanking the gods while he was at it. Making sure to untangle her arms from himself, he gingerly set her down, pulling the blanket under her chin and tucking the orange fox into her arms.

Naruto leaned his arms against the crib smiling, he brought his hand up to Hana's face and brushed a stray hair out of her face before he turned and headed to the door. He sure hoped Hana wasn't one to be easily woken.

"Nii-san...?" Naruto froze mid step, cursing the gods who were probably laughing at his expense right now. 'Why, Kami-sama? Why?!' Maybe if he didn't move, then she'd think that he left and go back to sleep.

"Nii-san..." She repeated. Naruto let out a little groan, apparently no luck.

Sighing tiredly, Naruto turned back to the crib. "What, Hana-chan?" She tilted her head cutely and rubbed her eyes with her little fist, clutching the stuffed fox closer. "I love you, nii-san."

The blond remained still not knowing how to respond. No one has ever told him that they loved him before especially so openly. When he looked at her, all he saw was unconditional love and trust. He felt more than saw it from their parents, as well. It kind of made his stomach do a few flips at a time. It made him a bit sick to think that someone like him would finally get something he so longed for, and when he accepted that it would never come to pass…something like this happened to him and he didn't know whether to love it or to hate it.

"I...I love you, too...now hurry and go back to sleep before k-kaasan and...tousan come in and catch us."

She nodded and Naruto once again tucked her in, planting a small kiss on her forehead and lifted up, but Hana's hands rose to both sides of his face. This efficiently stopped him, so he paused in his movement as the toddler sat up and gave him a wet, sloppy kiss on his cheek and then sending him a blinding smile before lying back down and snuggling into her fox.

Running a hand through his blond hair, Naruto let out a heavy sigh. "Man, I now have a new found appreciation for parents everywhere. I'm dead tired and I spent like, what—ten minutes with her?"

He then heard a muffled chuckle from behind the doorframe. The blond snuck across the room and grabbing a stray pillow while he was at it, leaning right next to the doorframe. He swung his arm around the frame and smiled in satisfaction as he received a well earned 'oomph' on the other end.

Spinning around, he ran straight into someone's stomach and he was once again earned with another 'oomph' as well as giving out one of his own. He glanced up to met the sight of the Fourth Hokage bending forward, clutching his stomach with one hand and the other rubbing his nose which is where Naruto assumed that the pillow made impact with.

Narrowing his cerulean eyes at the two of them, "What were you doing behind there?" He folded his arms across his chest with the pillow still in his hand. Rolling his eyes at the silence, he stepped forward, "You're lucky I didn't use something harder," Naruto pointed at Minato's red nose, "or that would have really hurt." He shoved the pillow into the man's arms and began to walk out.

Minato called out to him. "Naruto..." Turning around, Naruto gazed at him in expectation.

On the outside, Naruto may have been calm and cool but inside he was an absolute wreck. 'Am I doing something wrong? Am I supposed to hug them or something? Why are they staring at me like that?' Naruto started to fidget under their gazes, so he coughed to get their attention.

Both Minato and Naruto stepped forward at the same time and both stopped and just stood in front of each other in a tense awkward silence. Then Naruto stepped to the side, passing him and walking down the hall. He paused for a moment and turned around. "Umm...g-goodnight..." Then he went back on his way to his room and closing the door.

"Something's going on with him." Minato stated, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

Kushina looped her arm around his. "Just give him a break. Let's go to bed. We can talk about this tomorrow. It's been a long day, hmm?"

Minato kept his eyes on Naruto's door as he was dragged away into their bedroom. Smiling carelessly at his wife, "Yeah, I'll talk to him tomorrow." His smile turned into a frown when Kushina turned away.

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Naruto flopped unto his bed once he closed his door and buried his head into his pillow. "I can't handle this." He whispered.

'I can't even think of them as my parents, let alone refer to them as such, well not yet at least. I've been alone so long that I don't really think that I need them at all.' Naruto sighed in aggravation. 'Or do I? I don't know anymore! I already didn't know who I was before, so how am I supposed to figure out who I am now that I have a completely different life?' He groaned, rubbing his temple in hopes of preventing an oncoming headache.

"A family, the feeling of being loved, no dark glares or harsh words, isn't this what I've always wanted?" He stared up at his ceiling, glancing out his window at the night's sky. "Why does it feel so right in my heart, but so wrong in my mind?" He whispered out loud while he rested the back of his hand on his forehead.

'I need to get out, if just for a while.' He thought, getting up and opening his window before jumping onto the ledge. Just when he was about to jump out, he heard the door creak open, 'Not again!' and briefly glanced to that direction before taking off.

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Minato couldn't sleep. He laid there in the bed staring at the ceiling for the last half hour thinking about his son. Something was just different about him and it was killing him to not know what it was, especially if it involved his own children. Minato wanted to talk with his son, but Naruto never wanted to talk to him or do anything with him for that matter.

'Maybe I'll just check on him really quick.' He carefully got out of bed and slipped on a shirt. He padded across the hallway and stopped in front of Naruto door, hearing something that gave him more questions than answers. "Why does it feel so right in my heart, but so wrong in my mind?" Taking a deep breath, he gently turned the knob and slowly pushed open the door.

What he saw, he definitely didn't expect at all. Naruto was currently on the ledge of his window looking at the sky. He almost smacked his head when the door creaked, causing his son to glance briefly at him before jumping out the window.

"Naruto!"

Minato ran into the room and jumped onto the ledge looking out for any sign of him. He saw nothing. 'I don't see him down below, so where is he?' His cerulean eyes moved back and forth wildly.

"Relax, you're going to get a heart attack one of these days, you know." Naruto's head popped out above him from the edge of the roof. Minato looked up and upon spotting Naruto, sighed in relief while he too made his way up.

"That would be kind of embarrassing, since you're the Hokage and all, huh?" The blonde smiled at him cheekily. He blinked in confusion when he received no reply. He turned to see the man in front of him giving him one of those glares that only a parent could give their child and for some reason it warmed his heart to know that he was cared for even though he didn't truly believe all this was completely real.

"Are you crazy, Naruto?! You should know that you should never go out in the middle of the night so why did you do it?! What has gotten into you lately with all the sneaking around?"

Naruto didn't know what to say and just stared at the man in front of him with a gob- smacked expression.

Minato stood there tapping his foot, waiting for an answer but it never came. So, he cleared his throat rather loudly and raised an elegant eyebrow in question. "Well? Are you going to answer me or just stare?"

"Staring seems just fine." He replied, but the expression on the man's face proved otherwise.

Naruto's expression became calm as he straightened himself. He didn't know what to say, so he just decided to say the truth. It couldn't hurt for now he supposed. "I-I just needed to get out and think for a while, you know, fresh air and all."

Minato regretted yelling at him once he saw his son's face. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just your mother and I, we're worried about you and-"

"It's okay!" Naruto waved his arm defensively, his voice dropping to a whisper. "It's alright because I can...I can take care of myself..." _I always have_ lingered behind that statement.Something in those words felt wrong or maybe it was the way those words came out, Minato didn't know. Naruto's eyes unnerved him, though. They were cold and empty and _hollow_, but the emotions flashed by so fast that he almost thought he imagined it.

Almost...

Naruto laid down on the roof and gazed up at the stars, folding his arms behind his head. Minato sat down beside him. "You know, looking at the sky is the one thing that I love to do more than anything." He fixed his eyes on his son's face, who didn't even glance at him.

"Really?"

Naruto gave a small nod. "Yeah, it's probably because it's the one constant in my life. It will never change and for that I'm grateful." He smiled and shifted his body, turning toward the older man. "I wouldn't mind wasting my life away here," He looked into his eyes, cerulean meeting cerulean, "if I had the choice that is." Naruto smiled a smile that seemed almost bitter.

Naruto then stood up, dusting his pants and walking to the edge of the rooftop, but before going back down he turned slightly. "I didn't get much thinking done," He whispered, "but this, it was...nice," tossing him a ghost of a smile before making his way down to his room window.

Minato simply stared at the spot in which his son had stood a second ago before a huge smile crossed his face. "Yeah, it was." He could think about all of his questions and worries later.

He couldn't help but feel as though he suddenly didn't know his son anymore. Of course he didn't know him that well to begin with, but he knew all of his son's little quirks and peeves and all that. It was almost like a stranger was living in his home. 'Maybe, he is- no, no, no! He's not an intruder!' He shut out those thoughts, erasing them completely.

Naruto had changed, that was for sure. He had gotten wiser, smarter, and more mature than Minato's ever seen him act before. Something about his aura had changed, as well. Perhaps it was due to his memory loss, he didn't know. There was an aura around him that could let someone in one minute and shut you out the next. It was mysterious, but that's what pulled you in, just asking for someone to solve it and find the person beneath. Minato had to admit that Naruto was attracting people to him whether he wanted to or not. It was definitely different from the constant tantrums and fits that he would throw before to gain the wanted attention that he sought after. Now though, it was like he was doing everything he could to stay out of the limelight and into the shadows.

Minato was a bit worried about this change, though. Memory loss wasn't supposed to change a person this much, was it? He would have to visit the hospital first thing tomorrow, as well as keeping a sharp eye on Naruto. He got up and stood at the edge of the roof, looking over the village as the sun began to peek over the horizon. 'But,' the blonde thought as he smiled up into the sky, 'maybe it was for the better.'

That was the lasting thought he couldn't help but hope for as it drifted into the starless night.

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Alright! So that's it for this chapter, but I'll try to update as soon as I possibly can. Sorry again for the wait and I hope that changing the sibling thing didn't confuse anyone too much. I've decided to continue this story for as long as I can, so please give any opinions you may have! Please Review! =]

Much Love!

xxFrozenSn0wxx


	4. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: Wow! It has been a long time since I last updated, hasn't it? Haha…please don't hurt me! I've spent a lot of time on this chapter so I hope you enjoy! I could have sworn that I already posted it, though, so I guess that's why it took so long! I apologize for the long wait. Review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**Illusory Reality**

Chapter 3

"God damnit!" A shout rang through the darkness of the room. Naruto jolted up and slung his arms over his knees, resting his forehead in the crook of his elbows as his forearms pressed against the sides of his face, fingers threading through his blonde hair. The coolness of his sweat that clung to his skin did nothing to ease away the warmth that the surged on the surface of his skin.

Nightmares. They sucked and Naruto was pretty sure that almost everyone would agree to that statement unless you were a sadistic, melodramatic, psychotic, psychopathic maniac who actually enjoys having visits from a world that existed to bring fear into the very cores of a being and make you suffer by sticking you in a burning hell when you weren't living in the real world, which was, in a way, a less self-involved, scary, dramatic living hell. What got him was that if said people actually enjoyed such night visits, then wouldn't they be called dreams instead of nightmares? After all, one can't have a nightmare if it was enjoyable. So, they didn't count or maybe they did…whatever, this was giving him a headache…

'Argh!' His head was starting to hurt. Bringing up a hand to rub his temples, the blonde hoped that it might lessen the pain; unfortunately, it did nothing to help. Again, Naruto wished that he would be like those who forgot their dreams and it never came up again, but alas life played the unfair card and he was left awake, in pain, and cursing the gods for his misfortune.

Naruto winced at where his thoughts were heading and quickly shut them out. He knew he regrettably wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, and heaving a sigh, he sat in a relaxed position and began meditating. Naruto decided not to disturb the fox for now because it would undoubtedly lead to a headache that he was definitely not looking forward to, much to the enjoyment of a certain king of demons who would most likely give it to him on purpose for amusement.

Early in the dawn, a couple hours later when the sun was just barely rising, Naruto rose slowly from his fixed position without even glancing at his clock, knowing that it was most likely around the godforsaken hours that very few would be awake for. Stretching out across the length of his bed with an astonishingly seductive grace of a feline, Naruto stood to work out the rest of his kinks, satisfied to feel the cracks that responded.

Naruto decided to use this time to explore the house and familiarize himself so as not to catch the suspicion of his "family." He once again sighed and rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes in irritation. Naruto wanted to believe all this was true. He wanted to believe it with all his heart because a family is all he ever truly wished he could have. He didn't like the path that his thoughts were leading him but that was actually pretty hard with all the pictures that hung on the walls of the hallway. The blonde couldn't help but feel envious and also jealous that this was everything he could have had, but he didn't believe for a second that all of it was what his family would be like because it wasn't real. It just could be…could it?

'No,' Naruto shook his head in denial. 'No, no, no. It's not real. It can't be. It just can't.' He wouldn't be able to handle it if it was real, but that didn't matter, right? And that was because it was all a fake, a phony, bogus sham that was a lie, and he actually found himself believing it.

_Fool…_

He continued down the hall and found himself stopping in front of what the chuunin guessed as the most recent picture of his family. It was a typical family photo just like all the others that lined the walls of the hallway, which he took careful time to study and observe. Right now, though, Naruto's cerulean eyes searched the last and most recent picture, happening to land on his own scowling face with his slouched position and crossed arms. Naruto drew a small almost unnoticeable frown. The expression and body language of his other left a sour taste in his mouth and he couldn't help but take in his other with a bit of distaste. The others in the picture were all happy and well with carefree expressions…well, except for him at least. Naruto didn't particularly like the way his eyes held an arrogant front and looked as if this Naruto was about a half a second away from throwing a tantrum to get his way. He had long given up is childish ways and antics but kept them up to amuse his so called friends as it was a beneficial trait to his mask. It would be too noticeable if the others just found out that he suddenly grew up over night, and conflict was so overrated for something like that.

His cerulean eyes passed over his own indifferently and fleeted over to Hana's. He felt the corners of his lips curl upwards as he took in her beautiful, sunny smile. He could almost feel her carefree, pure, and innocent aura that stood out vividly through the picture. She was just so free, the way children were supposed to be; not like the ones that were dragged into war, tainted and scarred and—well, let's just say that they were never the same…that is if they ended up coming back.

He lowered his head a bit and rubbed his temples and emitted yet another sigh. All of this was seriously bringing up bad memories not that he wouldn't have thought about it anyway, but that wasn't the point. The blonde lifted his right arm, his fingertips gliding across the cool, hard surface and running it over each person. A fond look grew on his face but upon noticing it a small frown replaced it.

_...Such a Fool…_

'What am I doing?' He thought fiercely, 'This isn't real! They're not real! They are not my family and they never will be!' Naruto inwardly berated himself. 'God, I feel like such an idiot.'

Naruto quickly broke away from those thoughts and turned his attention back to the photo. He held a bitter smile on his face as he took in the picture as a whole. It looked like the typical picture of the perfect family…well almost, at least.

The blonde's eyes roved over from face to face, fixating on the Yondaime's face and then moved as to avoid all the thoughts and questions about the man. A smile quickly grew on his face at the sight of his "mother," who stood by the Fourth's side smiling serenely, but it left just as quickly at the realization that this reality was getting to him. He was growing attached and he needed to stop or it would be the end of him, of that he was sure of. Naruto's cerulean eyes narrowed a bit at the sight of another boy, or man right beside the Fourth's person.

His thumb lightly brushed and traced over the man's face. The man was handsome to say the least. He had curious black hair and the same shining chocolate brown eyes that his mother also held. The raven haired man stood on the other side of the Fourth who had a firm arm wrapped around his shoulders and the other around his wife's waist.

…_Such a naïve, simple-minded Fool…_

"I see that you're missing Kaito already, huh?"

Naruto spun around surprised that he hadn't noticed the Fourth leaning against the nearby doorway. 'Who's Kaito?' He thought.

"Kaito is your brother, older brother to be exact." The Fourth told him sadly, a depressing glint reflected through cerulean eyes that were so much like his own, and Naruto found himself feeling guilty and wanting to apologize for bringing up bad memories but he made sure to hold his tongue.

Naruto blinked. He must have said that out loud. He opened his mouth to say something but when nothing came out, he snapped his mouth shut. Naruto paused for a bit then spoke in a soft voice. "Why would I miss him?" He looked up, gazing at the man before him evenly. "Did he go somewhere?"

The Fourth sent him a small strained smile that even in itself looked extremely fake. "He just left to go on a mission last week right before you were…" He trailed off.

Naruto just raised an eyebrow in expectation, waiting for him to continue. "Well," Minato broke off, "that's not important right now." Naruto didn't respond to that because he didn't really know how to approach the situation.

'A brother?' The chuunin thought, 'a brother, I have a brother and a sister now.'

"Wow." He whispered.

"What was that?" The blonde asked.

Naruto waved it off. "Nothing, it was nothing."

"You alright, kiddo?"

Whipping his head up, he offered the most articulate answer he could come up with at the moment, which, to be honest wasn't much if anything at all. "Huh?"

"I asked if you were alright."

Naruto presented the Fourth with a shaky, clueless smile. "Oh. _Oh_, yeah. Yeah, I-I'm fine. Perfectly normal, there's nothing to worry about here, and if you're looking for something wrong then you're obviously mistaken in your current assessment because nothing could possibly be-"

"Uh-huh," Contrary to that, the Yondaime merely looked down at his son in something between sarcasm and agreement, if only to inquire about what he _obviously _didn't believe.

'Geez, you would think that he would have more faith in his son.' The blonde took a while to process that thought in his mind before smacking himself inwardly…and outwardly. 'That is if he had a son, which he most certainly doesn't! I can't believe I just thought that.'

"Did you just hit yourself?" An unbelieving voice asked.

"Yes, yes I did."

Arashi gently pushed him on. "Mind explaining why?"

"That's the punishment I get for dwelling in the stupidity of my own gullible, clutter-filled mind." Naruto retorted in kind.

He looked up to see the Fourth blink at him blankly before replying. "…I have no response for that."

"Well, that's…good, because I wouldn't know how to respond if you did respond to that." And again, an uncomfortable silence filled the air between the two as they stared at each other awkwardly.

Naruto looked away first, choosing to indulge himself into the picture once again. "So, what were you going to say? Something about him leaving a week before…" The Fourth looked at him sharply for a moment, eyes fixed on his face and once again, but said nothing.

"Umm…yeah…well, by the way you seem to hesitate, looking as if you'll really find something to stall; I find that I don't want to know. Well, I actually do kind of want to sort of not really want to know. I mean I do! I do want to—but I can't."

The Yondaime raised a simple brow in amusement, but it soon turned into one of confusion and worry Naruto noted. "I honestly can't say that I actually understood a word you just said."

The blonde scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, and Minato was sure that he saw a tinge of red spread across his son's cheeks, but it was gone so fast he thought his eyes were deceiving him. "Yeah, sorry about that. I tend to babble a lot when I'm nervous. Well, actually, I would most likely babble anyway so I don't have to necessarily be nervous to be able to-"

While Naruto was speaking, he began to slowly back up, inching towards the door and laughing nervously when the Yondaime noticed where he was heading and turning his full attention back on him. "Well, I guess I'll see you later?" He asked uneasily, walking past the taller blonde.

As he passed him, though, Minato placed his open palm unto his head, gripping him with a gentle but firm hold. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think your going, little man?" He asked pulling Naruto back a little by his head, which caused the younger stumbling to regain his balance.

"Umm…out." He replied uncomfortably, shifting his weight occasionally from leg to leg.

Minato's eyes narrowed a bit, "Out where?" he questioned suspiciously, drawing closer to his son's face so they were close to eyelevel and at the same time keeping his hold on the blonde's head.

"Out in the village?" Naruto tried to supply, but it seemed like the Fourth wasn't satisfied with that answer which made him even more suspicious than before. 'Great, just wonderful, I really need this.' Naruto thought sarcastically.

"Out in the village where?"

"I'm sorry, but that's classified." Naruto spoke with a straight face and even tone.

"You're sor—classified! What's that supposed to mean?"

The younger blonde just furrowed his eyebrows as if he was actually thinking about it. "Well, whatever you want it to mean, I guess. I thought that you of all people would know what class-"

"I know what it means."

"Okay, then." Naruto spoke flatly, hoping above all else that he wouldn't burst out laughing, quite randomly he might add, looking even more crazy then his supposed father already thought he was, at least.

"Okay."

"Uh-huh."

"Yep."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Alrighty then, bye."

"Bye. Wait, wha-" The Fourth cut himself off and instantly shot forward, wrapping his arms around Naruto's waist and holding tightly in his grasp. "On no, you are not to leave my sight today so that means you're spending the day with me."

Naruto creased his brow in confusion. "Don't you have—you know, Hokage things to do today?" A chuckle greeted him and he could feel the vibrations that ran through the others body as well as feel the Fourth's grip tighten around him protectively, and as much as he hated to admit it, he liked it.

Minato bent forward, resting his chin on Naruto's shoulder, "Yeah, I do, so that also means that you will be accompanying me to work today." His warm breath tickled past the blonde's face, and once more that feeling of security and warmth filled him. Minato must have noticed his silence, deciding to tease him accordingly. "Aren't you excited? You used to love coming with me when you were little. I would get nothing done though, and I couldn't leave you to yourself for more than five minutes or else something would happen. I learned that the hard way." Once again, he couldn't help but laugh at the look his son gave him, ruffling his hair playfully before letting him go and stepping back.

Naruto couldn't help the rush of disappointment he felt as the warmth of the Fourth body left him. "It's decided then. You are not leaving my side today, got it?"

"Can't it be tomorrow? Why today?" The blonde questioned.

"Because I said so, and that's that." The Fourth stated as if what he said was actually going to work. Naruto felt a bit awkward, but thankfully he had Iruka-sensei, who was the closest thing to a parent he had, actually say that to him a few times.

"Then why do you bother asking me?"

Minato stared at him perplexed for a few moments before answering. "Well, it's generally rude to order other people around."

"But you're doing it anyway." Naruto pointed out, cocking his head cutely to the side. "And isn't that like your job—to order other people around?" He asked in a deceivingly innocent tone.

Minato looked visually uncomfortable, and shifting his weight from side to side and coughing into his hand as he tried to come up with something acceptable to say. "That's not actually it. My job is to act as leader of the village and—you know, make sure things run smoothly and of course to protect it--"

"By ordering other people around." Naruto interrupted him, feeling smug inside after seeing the look the Fourth wore on his face.

"Just—please, Naruto?" Minato asked pleadingly.

Something in his tone must have changed because could almost see the desperation in his eyes as he heard the Fourth's pleading voice, but at his hesitant nod, Minato looked smugly satisfied. "Good."

'He tricked me!' He mentally shouted, but decided that he would do it vocally, as well.

"You tricked me." Naruto stated flatly, annoyance lacing his voice.

The other blonde gazed down at him and Naruto once again looked up at those eyes, seeing something flash behind them, gone as fast as it come. 'Maybe he didn't.' Naruto reassessed, then rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest.

"Whatever." He pouted.

Minato chuckled, placing a hand unto his son's head. "Come, stop pouting."

Naruto looked up, "I'm not pouting," he said pouting even more in response, "I'm sulking." The Fourth just chuckled louder, bending down and facing Naruto at eyelevel. "Of course you are. Then come, stop your sulking." His hand was still on Naruto's head as he ruffled it a bit and was pleased to see a smile spread across his son's face that he knew reflected his own.

The elder's vision strayed down the hall, seeing the light steam through the window and turning back to the attention of his child. "Why don't you go wake your sister and get yourselves ready, your mother will be up soon to make your breakfast, and then we will leave so that you can be reacquainted with the behind the scenes work of this village." He spoke, making a dramatic show of excitement and waving his arms around for emphasis.

Naruto nodded again and left to get ready and then wake up Hana. He had a feeling that today was going to be tiresome and he was going to need all of his energy if he was going to spend the whole day with the Fourth.

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"Just kill me." Naruto whispered to himself. "Never mind that, the paperwork will probably drown me before I can do that. Why, oh why, do the people of other villages have to flood us with their paperwork?" He mumbled. "Probably to make our Hokage sit in a chair all day and become rusty and fat, then attack our village while we are in disrepair."

"Hey!" Naruto lazily looked up in surprise. "Did you just call me rusty and fat?" Minato asked in mock annoyance, trying to hold in his laughter as he eyed the blonde boy who was lounging on the couch looking quite comfortable. Naruto just looked at him for a while before turning back to the scroll that he was reading; resuming his mumbling that could actually be heard quite clearly across the office room.

"Did I say that?" He mumbled again. "I don't remember specifying which Kage I was talking about, talk about paranoid," the blonde spoke to himself.

"I do remember you saying 'our Hokage,' for your information." Minato pointed out indignantly.

"I don't recall saying that. He better get his ears checked. I don't even know what he's talking about." Naruto whispered to himself not even bothering to look up from his scroll.

"Why are you talking to yourself as if I'm not here and can't hear you?" Minato asked. "And why should it matter? You're not the one doing the paperwork, anyway."

Naruto tilted his head up, staring at the ceiling. "I wonder if he'll let me help if I asked."

"You can always ask." The Fourth said with exasperation.

"Nah, he'll probably say no." Naruto shook his head, reasoning with himself.

Minato stared at him. "I never said that."

"I better let him ask me for help." The blonde stated, nodding in approval.

The Yondaime ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Again, I'm right here."

"He probably won't ask me, though." Naruto shook his head sadly again in dissatisfaction.

Minato just sighed and bowed his head in defeat. He knew he wasn't going to get any work done. "Can you help me with this, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up at once, smiling at him before gazing up in thought as if he was really thinking about it. "Well, I suppose." He said slowly. "Since you asked so nicely and all." Minato then became acutely aware that his left eye was twitching when his son sent him a smirk. He could even hear the Anbu that were situated around his office and undoubtedly listened to the conversation snickering at him.

Today was going to be a long day.

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Naruto heaved a loud sigh as he flopped onto the bed. He sighed again as he remembered how Hana wouldn't let go of him before he left this morning and refused to when he came home, as well. He was tired and today was dealt was a crapload of numerous mountains of paperwork, and even then, they didn't get through half of it.

'Thank god I don't need to go back tomorrow!' Naruto thought with a relieved sigh, frowning at the long night that was to come, as well.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully tonight, he rarely did anyway not that he really needed it. All the blonde really had to do was make sure that he hit at least a somewhat reasonable amount of hours in a week or he would probably crash and burn with lack of energy and chakra depletion. It was both an advantage and disadvantage that the fox blessed him with but he wasn't one to complain. With another sigh, he turned off the lights and was lost in the darkness. He really wasn't looking forward to this.

"_Get away, demon!"_

Naruto rolled around in his bed, eyes flickering beneath his closed eyelids, replaying the memories that he sealed so long ago. His breaths soon became short fast pants, with hands gripping the blankets and head thrown from side to side.

"_Why don't you just die?!" _

Naruto flinched as if he had been struck, recoiling back into his blankets, rolling in them as if to find a source of comfort, but it served no help.

"_You want to be Hokage? What a joke." _

His breaths became shallow, hands clawing at the sheets and legs kicking, trying to escape from something that he alone could see. Only he could see it, hear it, feeling it tearing at his mind and soul. He desperately tried to hold on to the last of his sanity before it was ripped away from him.

"_You're nothing. You always have been and always will be." _

Once again rolling uncontrollably in his bed, left to twist and turn his body as it writhed at the emotional pain and stress that almost felt like it was physical.

"N-no…"

"_Why are you worthy of being alive if you killed so many around you?! You're a murderer!" _

A small whimper sounded and the blonde's face contorted in pain.

"No…"

"_You were doomed from the beginning. You have never experienced true love in its most beautiful and most pure form, and you never will. No one can truly love a demon." _

"NO!"

"_It's too late to apologize…" _

Naruto shot up letting out a choked sob that somehow escaped his throat. His body ached all over and the sweat on his body didn't make things any better. His right hand clutched at his shirt right above his heart while his breathing slowly evened out.

_Too late…_

Naruto raised his left hand in front of face and saw that it was trembling, and taking his hand away from his chest, he wrapped his arms around himself and brought his knees up, burying his head into them. He unconsciously shivered as he thought about those memories that played continuously through his mind over and over again.

_Too late…_

He felt something he couldn't quite place rise up from his stomach and travel up his chest. The pressure was unbearable and Naruto soon found sweat forming on his brow and his breaths coming out in short pants. What was it?

He knew what it was, though, even as he tried to deny it.

…_Fear…_

He leaned over and opened his drawer, his trembling hands looking carefully through the contents slowly at first, but his pace became increasingly faster and more frantic, shuffling through the useless objects, tossing them across the room until he finally found what he was looking for. Naruto drew it out slowly as if it were the most fragile thing. His eyes flickered a bit as if he realized what he was doing but didn't care, fighting an internal battle between what was in his mind and what was really happening. Naruto's eyes suddenly went dull, staring at the object he cradled with intense indifference.

Naruto brought the object to his eye level, the metal shining wonderfully in the moonlight, gleaming and tempting him with its beauty. The kunai that Naruto held was nothing special compared to any other ordinary kunai, but that didn't matter to him. It looked more beautiful to him right then than he ever comprehended it would before. It truly amazed him that something that could be so beautiful was created in the prospect of war and greed and so dangerously deadly.

_Monster…_

He couldn't shake the voices. They wouldn't stop.

_Freak…_

'Why wouldn't they stop?!'

_Demon…_

'Why…'

He knew why. He's always known why but he hoped and believed above all else that things would change, that they would begin to see him and not the Kyuubi, or the hopeless deadlast dobe. He hoped for a better beginning, but it never came.

'Change…it will never change…so why do I still hope it will?' The thought arose. 'A demon, is that what I am?' For some reason, though, he didn't feel shame, he never had on this matter, but if they called him a demon then he should wear the title proudly, shouldn't he?

_Monster…_

'Not again. Please, not again!'

He felt the cool metal of the kunai on his skin, and watched in morbid fascination as he drew it leisurely across the akin of his inner left forearm. His eyes followed the trails of red liquid that now stained him. Naruto didn't even know what he was doing but he couldn't stop it, and honestly he didn't even know if he wanted to. He watched as the lines curved and formed letters. What was he writing? He didn't know but he was aware it had to be done. With the last stroke, Naruto lifted his right arm, which gripped the kunai in a vice grip turning his knuckles white with the strength of his grasp.

Lifting his head, Naruto's usually sharp and focused eyes were glazed over as if in a trance that refused to be broken. Cerulean eyes darted to his arm to admire his work, but he couldn't see it. His vision blurred as tears cascaded down his face and unto his cheeks, traveling along his neck and sinking into his shirt, almost as if it were sinking into his skin instead. He could feel it, the dull pain that soon intensified that only served to bring more tears to his eyes as the consequences of his actions kicking in.

"What's happening to me?" The whisper floated through the air so softly that it was doubtful it actually left his mouth, but he knew it did.

The next thing he knew, two strong, firm arms wrapped warmly around him. Shock filled his mind as if he just suddenly woke up, causing him to drop the kunai to the floor and staining it red with his blood. His mind blanked and he instinctively gave into his desire, weakness, and fear. He could vaguely hear someone yelling but he couldn't understand.

Why couldn't he understand?

He didn't know who it was that had their arms around him, and right now he didn't really bother to care. All he could comprehend was that he felt safe, that the world couldn't reach him when he was like this and he basked in the feeling even though it wouldn't last. He shut his eyes tightly and grabbed the front of the other's shirt in desperation as he sobbed against his chest.

Right now…right now he will allow this weakness to show because he felt safe and that's all that mattered for now.

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Minato didn't know what to think. It happened so fast with his mind racing to comprehend what he had just seen but he couldn't focus on any plausible explanation. He didn't understand and right now he didn't know if he really wanted to. It didn't make sense. It didn't make any sense at all. And now, with his arms wrapped securely around his son, he didn't need to understand. Not yet, at least. He would find out, well, eventually, he hoped.

There was something wrong and he felt it the moment they left the hospital but he convinced himself that his son was or would be fine, but he wasn't. Something was wrong with his son and he couldn't do anything.

Minatopulled the smaller form closer to his body, resting him onto his lap and gripping Naruto's body closer to his own sharing his body heat. Naruto had fallen asleep with his coxing, running his fingers through those silky golden strands of hair so much like his own and blowing cool air across the other's forehead to ease his mind. He shifted to reposition himself, sliding across the small bed and scooting against the wall and pulling his son against his chest, tucking Naruto's head beneath his chin.

He tightened his arms around him if only to reassure himself that Naruto was still within his grasp and that he wouldn't be going anywhere. Minato breathed in his scent and basked in the fell of Naruto calm and steady heartbeat and warmth that he could feel through his shirt. Now, all he had to do was calm his own but sleep wouldn't help him in this. The Fourth wasn't sure if anything really would at this point. After all, there's just so many heart attacks that a father could take before heart failure sets in, isn't there?

His attention was somewhat transfixed when he noticed the dried blood flanking Naruto's skin. Taking a few deep breaths to push down his panic, Minato leaned over the blonde and reached across to the drawer that was currently open from the past ordeal. He blindly dug around a bit with one hand until he found what he was looking for before grabbing it. Pulling out a roll of bandages, Minato briefly closed his eyes and once again took a deep breath before gently turning Naruto over with his back against his chest. It took all of his control not to just look over all of his wounds without any precautions but he knew he had to be tender with the situation of not only his wounds but Naruto, as well.

Tugging him closer, Minato hesitated for a moment before gingerly removing Naruto's forearm, careful to not wake the boy by shifting him a little more so that Naruto was partially on his back but also leaning against his form.

He could already see the dried flecks of blood that marred his son's flawless skin, running the pad of his thumb over it with his right arm, which was unrestrained by his son's body and took hold of the bandages. Grabbing a few other items, he hesitantly looked down at the damage and promptly felt all the blood drain from his face, leaving him pale and flushed.

It hurt. For a moment, it felt like he couldn't breath. The air thickened and suddenly it felt like the pressure was too much. It hurt so much, like someone just ripped out his heart and stomped on it a million times over before putting it back in. He felt so many things right now. He felt pain, anguish, shame, regret, and everything negative one can possibly imagine, but what rose above all the rest was guilt and fear. Fear that once Naruto found out, he would hate him and turn away.

These were some of the things that kept him up at night. Endless nights without sleep envisioning and predicting what possibilities could or would happen, and none of them ended with a happy ending at all. It was simply too much to hope for.

Minato could feel the hot sting of tears behind the folds of his eyelids, but he didn't care. He wept with bitterness, holding his son even tighter against his heart as he ran his fingers through Naruto's hair that was matted with sweat, kissing him atop the head as if begging for forgiveness, and crying into his shoulder, feeling the tears roll down his face and unto his son's shirt and skin.

This was a moment that he would never forget. Did Naruto know? He didn't know if his son knew. He had to…it wouldn't make any sense if Naruto didn't know, but here was the evidence, the proof of his sin, printed on his son's skin, the proof of his failure as a father. For on his son's skin, carved in flesh and sealed in blood was the thing that Minato never even wanted to think about in the presence of his son.

…_Demon..._

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Awesome! I'm done with this chapter! That's a total relief! Sorry, I thought that I posted this chapter already, but I'm glad I didn't because I spent a lot of time organizing my thoughts and ideas, so I got to change much of the material. I might have rushed some points because I kind of got impatient but I hope it is okay.

I know that the wait was long…that was the bad news…the good news is that I'm almost done with the next chapter so it'll come a lot sooner…I hope…=P…Hahaha…until next time then! Please Review!!

Much Love!

xxFrozenSn0wxx


	5. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: Hey guys! I finally updated! I've been super busy lately but I'm trying the best I can to update all of my stories. I haven't abandoned any of them, let me tell you, but I have been struggling with my lack of motivation and laziness to write anything due to that. Anywayz, I hope that you enjoy this chapter! Please, understand and sympathize with me as I will most likely take long breaks between the chapters of my story. Please, review! =]

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**Illusory Reality**

Chapter 4

Beautiful cerulean eyes blinked rapidly and closed to adjust to the rays of sunlight that filtered through the window that stood by his bedside. A hoarse groan ripped through his throat as he rolled over, shifting his head onto the firm surface beneath him and feeling it wedged comfortably between something. Naruto's eyes flickered in confusion and he pulled away from his oh-so-comfortable pillow, propping himself up on his elbow while twisting his body to balance on his side. Remaining oddly silent, Naruto's eyebrows rose as he took in the site before him. His father, the Fourth, was currently sprawled out across his bed and sleeping quite soundly and apparently had no problems with it whatsoever.

The blonde stared, fixing his eyes on the man before him and watching the chest rise and fall at a rhythmic pace. Slowly, a few of the events from the previous night made themselves known, and Naruto reluctantly let his guard crumble right before his eyes, softening at the memory.

The blonde hesitantly lowered himself back beside the Fourth, sliding as soundlessly as possible as to not disturb the man beside him and almost looked to be afraid to approach, which he most likely was but Naruto simply refused to admit it even if it was just to himself.

'Come on, Naruto! Toughen up and stop acting like a scared little dog with its tail tucked between its legs!' He cried. 'I've turned into such a wuss since I've been stuck here!'

He didn't like it. He never really felt truly weak and vulnerable like he did now. Naruto may have played the fool and weakling, the dobe of the class but he never really was. The blonde knew what he was doing and that nullified the affect somewhat because he was in control. Now, though, he didn't know what was going on, what he was going to do, and that scared him. He had no control here, and for the first time in years, he just might have to take off that mask he's held so long in front of others. Naruto didn't want that; he wasn't ready and the blonde didn't know if he truly ever would be.

He sighed, noticing something different—amiss, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

'What is this feeling?'

He felt a strange void, but enough to feel something. It wasn't the kind of troubled abyss that haunted him in his sleep, but something else. He closed his eyes and counted to ten, suddenly wanting to beat himself up for forgetting. It's no wonder he couldn't get even one peaceful night's sleep and was constantly feeling on edge. He stood up, padding across his room and digging through his weapons holster before he found what he was looking for. Taking out two blue pills that were each about half an inch in length, he brought his hand to his mouth, snapping his head back swiftly and swallowing them dry.

'That should do it.'

The blonde never considered himself as a child. He grew up too fast for that. He supposed that it still made him a child in this aspect. After all, the mask that he made was developed to protect him from everything, and it was created when he was a child at the time. Naruto guessed that he just never grew out of it.

'When the hell did I get so weak?'

The events from last night flashed through his mind in a fury of images and jumbled up words that only came out as a noise that wouldn't stop, or perhaps it was just a sound coming out as everyone and everything else around him was silenced out. Naruto suddenly sat back up and slid off the bed, soundlessly walked across the room and treading into his bathroom. He noticed that things about his room that he never noticed before but that was probably because he didn't have the time or didn't see fit to look around "his" room, not that it mattered now, though.

The bandages, he noticed, were indeed newer than the ones wrapped around his forearm before but it was still stained with his blood. He knew by now that the Kyuubi would have his wound healed and he wondered if the fox would listen to him if he suddenly had the urge to order the demon to let it scar.

But like everything else in his life, nothing ever came easy, and Naruto wouldn't have it any other way—he kept telling himself—no matter how many times the blonde haired boy asked the gods why.

And right now…was not one of those times…

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"Where's Naruto?!" The Fourth burst into the kitchen. Yumi froze for a moment at his tone before resuming what she was doing, "What do you mean? He's sleeping in his room. Isn't he?" she asked calmly, but Arashi saw her body tensing in apprehension and fists clenching around the utensils she held. He walked up to her, wrapped his arms around her waist from behind after giving both Hanna and her a kiss.

"I-" he hesitated, "it's nothing. He probably just went out for a walk or something." Trying not only to convince himself but his wife, as well, the blonde hoped his worry was all for nothing as he planted a strained smile on his face.

"I'm going to see if I can find him, okay? I'll be back soon." And before she could get a word out, the front door was already slammed shut. Letting out an uneasy sigh, Yumi's lips held a bittersweet smile across her face as she heard Hanna's giggles, 'There's never a dull moment in this family.'

As soon as the Yondaime stepped out the door, two Anbu appeared kneeling before him only to disappear a moment later when the Fourth silently dismissed them with a nod. He would be looking for his son alone.

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The blonde decided that a walk would be good. He hadn't been able to look around the village much and thought that it was a good idea. Yes, getting time to think things over away from all the watchful eyes had definitely been a good idea, indeed. Maybe he'll even be able to start to find the differences that could trigger his release from this world. The blonde had started to think that this place wasn't so bad and that was probably the point, he supposed. He hated himself his weakness.

So what if he suddenly gained the respect and acknowledgement that he always wanted but never received for all his efforts. Well, that wasn't _necessarily_ true, as some people did but it took a hell of a lot just to get others to notice him. It's better to gain one's respect than have it given freely for absolutely no purpose, he reasoned with himself. Even if he was the container of a demon, Naruto wanted to earn other's acknowledgement. Of course, he never wanted the village to turn against him and see him as a demon, but Naruto didn't want them to hail him as their hero either.

'It's what I want…what I wanted, at least, but…but not like this.' He thought.

So what if he suddenly acquired a family that he craved and dreamt of since he was old enough to speak. A family that he wished he had to hold him when he cried, and to yell at him for pranking the villagers…to hug and congratulate him when he passed his genin exams….a family to be there. Shaking his head fiercely, his blonde hair gently hitting his face as he once again tried to convince and reason with himself, bathing in his denial. 'It was better this way. It has made me stronger…if not physically than emotionally.'

So what if he suddenly had a home. A place that made him feel safe and wanted, protected and…loved. 'I had a home of my own before this and I'll have it after, as well!' He mentally screamed, feeling like he should be pulling out his hair right about now.

So what.

'Damn it!' He swung his fist into a nearby wall, causing a few of the villagers to look his way but he paid them no mind. With his head bowed and hair obscuring his face, Naruto gritted his teeth as he ignored the sting of his knuckles and the liquid that slid through the new breakage of his skin.

He didn't have any of those things before and he certainly didn't need it after. He's survived this long and he wasn't turning back now…not after all he had been through. He would go on living just as he always had with no regrets and no looking back. He had to be strong, always be strong. It was a given in his life in which he was never given a choice. Weaknesses were flaws and he didn't have anymore room for such things especially in these times. He had enough of those to rant for days on end.

Pushing himself off the wall, the blonde swayed a bit before walking past the villagers that stopped to watch him, and oddly enough he didn't really care. He didn't notice when they cleared a path for him nor the pain that throbbed below the surface of his fist, pain numbed by his disregard.

Walking around and shaking your head at random intervals while mumbling to yourself and going on little temper tantrums couldn't be healthy at all, and Naruto began to once again wonder if he was crazy. It definitely wouldn't be a big surprise since he still believed that he was trapped in a genjutsu of some sort. 'And while I'm at it, I really should watch where I'm going.' The blonde thought as he realized it a bit too late as he currently found himself on the ground after bumping into an old lady, making her drop all of her belongings.

Coming back to his senses, he scrambled unto his feet, apologizing profusely as he helped the woman with her belongings. "Here," Naruto gave her a weak smile, "let me carry them for you. It's the least I could do for bumping into you and all." He spoke in a gentle, soft voice that held nothing but a sincere apology.

"My, my, this certainly is a surprise. It's hard to find young people these days who would take the time to help an old woman carry her groceries home." The ex-chuunin could clearly hear the amusement in her voice.

Naruto blushed in embarrassment, ducking his head while he lifted all of the woman's things and waiting for her to lead the way. Naruto took this time to look at the other woman. She was…well, old but that was pretty obvious. She wasn't overly tall or short with a plump form that suited the elder well. All of her hair had turned gray, tied up in a bun that was held behind a wrinkled and aged face. It was easy to see that the woman held herself with an air on confidence and assurance that seemed to elude wisdom and experience. The blonde couldn't explain it but somewhere deep in his mind he recognized her, which was strange because Naruto was absolutely sure that he'd never seen or spoken to this person. He knew that this elderly woman was highly regarded despite her seemingly less than mediocre common civilian clothes.

He never really was one for appearances, anyway. Looks can be deceiving. After all, who knew and was better at it than he?

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'Where could he be?' The blonde elder thought frantically, white robe flaring behind him as he swept through the village. His son's chakra signature was close but he couldn't quite pinpoint where and it was frustrating him to no end.

'What has gotten into him lately?' he thought, mentally smacking himself in the head.

'He doesn't remember you.' A nagging voice spoke in the back of his mind, 'Of course he would act differently. He doesn't remember anything.' Arashi shook his head to clear his thoughts. Now wasn't the time for this, not now. Even so, it did nothing to stop his heart from aching.

Scratching his head in worry, the Kage was beginning to regret not letting his Anbu guards help in the search for his troublesome son. As if called by some unseen and unheard voice, the same two guards appeared on each side of their leader, keeping with his pace, silently questioning and waiting for their orders. The Yondaime sighed in agitation, raking a hand through his blonde hair before giving in. A small smile stretched across the blonde's lips as he once again dismissed the two after receiving their orders, letting his whispered words get swept away by the wind and disappearing along with it.

One thing that he knew, though, was that once he got a hold of that blue-eyed, blonde-haired boy, there would be trouble. The first thing he would do would be hug the living da—err, smack the boy upside the head, and then hug the living daylights out of him. Ehh, Minato decided that it didn't really matter what the order was as long as he didn't forget to do both.

"Where are you, Naruto?"

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"Well, here we are." Naruto almost felt his jaw drop in surprise, thankfully catching himself before it happened. His eyes stayed wide as he scanned the area quickly before skillfully steeling his emotions behind closed doors.

The old woman glanced at him through the corner of her eye, nodding to herself in approval. "Y-you live here?"

"No. I just brought you here to stare at this house." Naruto blinked in surprise. That was unexpected. The blonde tilted his head to glance at her in question, chuckling lightly when he spotted her amused smile. "Really now," He questioned softly, "well, it is a lovely house, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is."

He knew he was right when he thought that this woman was no ordinary villager. Apparently, she ranked quite high in status, or at least her family did. The pair quickly stepped through the gate barely giving the blonde enough time to admire the compound. It was an old fashioned type of house that was traditional and elegant with its design and structure that held a simple complexity to it. It was absolutely beautiful and Naruto could do nothing but marvel and appreciate it, absentmindedly noting that a building such as this would have to belong to a family that was very high on the social scale. It was in a part of the village that he'd never really explored before because this was the equivalent to an uptown while he was used to staying in rundown places, much like a "downtown."

Naruto dropped all of the woman's belongings at the front door and stepped away. Dipping his head in acknowledgment, he smiled easily, "Well, I'll just be taking my leave," turning and ready to depart.

"Would you like to come in?" She asked hurriedly before he could leave with a kind smile on her face, but a small frown overtook it a moment later. "Please, come let me take care of that arm for you."

He blinked in confusion for a moment, 'my arm?' The familiar sting in his fist made him glance down his right arm, 'ah, forgot about that,' he thought. Shaking his head slowly in decline to the offer, Naruto dipped his head again.

"Thank you for the offer, but I think I have to get going." He placed his hand on the back of his neck and grinned at her with a suddenly timid look, "I'm sorry about earlier again-" The elder just waved it off easily, "no, no, I think I was as fault, as well."

Turning away, the blonde paused in his step as the woman watched him curiously. "Ano, I don't think I ever got your name," he turned to the side, looking at her through the corner of his eye.

"Minami Chiaki," She spoke, causing Naruto to draw his brows in an almost unnoticeable crease. It didn't ring any bells. He didn't recognize the name. Nodding his head again, he turned his head forward and leapt away. Hmm…he kind of looked familiar, or was it just her?

Chiaki just stared at the space in which the blonde had once stood with a contemplative gleam in her eyes and a hidden smile on her lips. She caught how he purposely left out his own name in the process of it all.

_How interesting…_

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'Ugh.' Naruto groggily opened his eyes, succeeding in being able to lift his head up about an inch above the pillow for couple of seconds before he gave under the weight. He immediately regretted it once his head made impact, sending his vision into a swirl of colors and nausea from the dizziness. "I'm going to kill them." He groaned out.

"Kill who?" An amused voice inquired from the doorway.

Naruto rolled his eyes upward, suddenly feeling huffy about something. "Who else?" He asked as if the answer was obvious, "The people who ran over my head."

"What do you remember?"

"Walking home and something white grabbing me and then I blacked out."

Minato adopted a thoughtful pose. "Hmm…maybe it wasn't whatever-it-was's fault."

"How would you know?" Naruto's cerulean eyes narrowed suspiciously, unsuccessful in catching the man's eye.

The blonde shifted slightly to the side, something that would have gone mostly unnoticed, or passed as a casual shift, but it only caused those cerulean eyes—exactly the same as his own—to narrow even further in scrutiny. "I wouldn't." It was easy to see that his blonde child didn't believe him. He couldn't blame him, to be honest, his answer really did sound like a question more than anything else.

Raising his brow, Naruto replied smoothly. "So, you can't say anything about it then."

"Uhh…"

"Oh, and one more thing…" That deceptively soft, calm voice made the hairs on the Hokage's arms prickle in a foreboding way.

"Yes?" Minato asked slowly.

Naruto's eye twitched, pissed that the idiot man would pretend like nothing was wrong. "Why the hell am I strapped down to a freakin' bed?!"

"Language, Naruto," came the weak retort.

The boy made a soft hiss in response, sounding strangely reminiscent to some form of angry feline before answering. "Only if you give me a plausible answer, and you had better make it a good one, _Hokage-sama_."

"Err…" the older man floundered a bit. His son always was rebellious, but Minato could always see it was from jealousy and lack of attention on his part, which he often did regret. It was different now, though. This rebellious and fiery attitude wasn't based off those past feelings anymore. The older man really couldn't place it. It was almost like his son didn't know how to act around people and as a result becomes defensive, blocking and closing off his emotional connections. It was driving him crazy.

It did make sense with the loss of memory and all that, but still…

Something was off. At least he somewhat knew how to deal with the other Naruto. This Naruto, though, was so complex—not that the former wasn't complex in his own right—but the mood changes and hidden meanings and emotional barriers…it was really hard to understand, let alone keep up with.

Naruto didn't even wait for him to reply, and just kept on ranting on. "This has got to be against some kind of law, and if it isn't then it's against my morality."

"Look, when I knocked you out-"

"Ha!" the blonde let out a shout in triumph. "I knew it was you!"

"Damn it!"

"Traitor!"

"Hey, stay still before you hurt yourself!"

"Like hell I will! Don't touch me—get your hands away from me!"

"But I didn't even get to hug you after I knocked you out!"

"Does it look like I care?! You should've thought of that before! Get away!"

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He'd been here a week since the release of the hospital and Naruto wasn't any closer to finding out about how to escape this world. He had noticed subtle differences but nothing too drastic to hold his attention for too long.

And it of course didn't make it any easier that he was on lockdown for his little stunt, or stunts because Naruto was positive that that wasn't the only thing getting under the Yondaime's skin lately. Definitely not.

He took smug satisfaction in the Fourth's cowardice in the face of his wife when she _somehow_ got wind of what the man did. The rest of the day seemed so much brighter after that.

He was to reenter the academy in two days after a week of absence and the blonde was not looking forward to it. His father was against him going back so soon, but he got his mother to take his side and anyone in their right mind would not go against that woman when she was angry. The blonde shuddered just thinking about it. It was not pretty. Naruto sighed as he rolled the thoughts around in his mind, thinking of the torturous lectures and long aggravating lessons of Konoha's history. At least he would be prepared this time, or at least more prepared than he was before at this age, which wasn't saying much at all if he was being completely honest with himself.

What he found more frustrating than was worth his time was that he had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to act. It would be so much easier to just adopt the personality that the "other" Naruto had rather than create a new one, but he has yet to find anything that could be of usefulness. The blonde could only assume some of the traits that his previous mask held gathered from the pictures he had seen, which mostly consisted of his other mostly scowling or glowering at the viewer.

Well, that wasn't much help. At all. The loudness was most likely there, as well as some of his more presumptuous and incompetent traits, so it couldn't be _that_ difficult, right?

Right?

Too bad he didn't know just how difficult it would really be.

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"Would it be against the law to tell me just where Kaito has his mission and for what purpose?" Naruto asked the Yondaime not-so-subtly.

The Fourth blinked and then turned to him. "Not really, no." He answered with a suspicious tone to his voice.

The younger blonde ignored that and tilted his head to the side to get a better view of the Fourth, peering at the other curiously. "So…are you going to tell me?" A hint of eagerness was noted in his voice as he literally started to bounce around with excitement.

Arashi seemed to almost think about the proposal, not even bothering to change his answer. "Not really, no."

"But I thought that you said it wasn't against the law." Arashi didn't bother looking up as he retorted to that statement. "It's not if the Hokage, which is me, chooses to dispel said information, but in most cases it would be under severe classification. And I'm sure—no positive _you_ of all people know what the word classified means, don't you?"

"But-"

"_No_, and stop pouting, Naruto, it's unbecoming of you." The Fourth teased.

Naruto just scowled in response. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not _pouting_?" The blonde huffed out, "I'm merely sulking. Is that okay with you?" He replied sarcastically.

"And if I say it isn't?" The older of the two inquired, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Tough love, get over it." Naruto snapped back at him.

The Fourth grinned in response even though he knew that his son wasn't looking at him, Naruto most likely knew that he was grinning from ear to ear, and continued to brood.

"Soo…are you going to keep stalling, or are you going to tell me, hmm?"

His only answer was the Fourth releasing a groan of frustration as Naruto smiled to himself. He was sure that that was going to work. "Are you going to answer me or what, old man?"

Another groan was heard followed by laughter.

"Why are you here?"

Naruto looked at him with an expression that told him how stupid he thought it was. "You're the genius that woke me up early in the morning and dragged me here like it's bring-your-son-to-work day, and you're asking me that question?"

Minato rubbed his temples, "right, right." Why did I do that again?

"I think we should take a break and get some fresh air then." He stood up and stretched, cracking his joints and taking the kinks out.

Naruto didn't bother to move. "Have fun with that."

"You're coming with me." The younger didn't get a chance to respond as he was whisked away faster than he expected the man to react.

"It looks like it's going to rain." Naruto stated, gazing up at the cloudless sky from a random hill in one of the training grounds, not bothering to return the other's gaze.

"Rain? I don't think so. It's midsummer, it never rains this time of the year." The Fourth, too, tilted his head to gaze at the sky then back at his son.

"Why would you say that?"

With a soft sigh, his cerulean eyes met his stare evenly, but didn't rush to redeem himself. The Fourth was surprised at the calm presence that he seemed to radiate off him and the patient disposition but gave no outward indication of so. Normally, Naruto would always rush and boast of all he knew and learned to show his superiority, but Arashi also knew he did it whether in his presence or not to make him feel proud vying for his attention. Arashi felt guilt well up in him as he watched his son completely aware that he wouldn't be feeling this way if perhaps he spent more time with him. There was also the fact that his brother always seemed so untouchable in terms of skill and it constantly made him feel understandably inferior whenever they were together and maybe even compared.

This was different, though. His presence was…almost the opposite. Arashi blinked out of his thoughts when his son began to walk a bit away deeper into the clearing of trees, gazing at the sky in full.

"I once read that when the rainfall comes a day after a full moon circuit on the eve of a summer solstice," he spoke in a whisper to the wind, the Fourth straining to hear him as the wind carried it away. "It's supposed to symbolize that something great is coming." The Yondaime blinked, a small confused smile planted on his face. That didn't sound bad at all. "Terrible, but great." The smile slipped off his face as his brow creased in thought.

"It also made it explicitly clear that it will only come when the rain falls over exactly one week. So, we can still have hope that if the rain does come but disappears before the week in which it began is over."

"What do you mean?" The confusion was evident in his voice, but the blonde just kept staring into the distance. "Something that is great doesn't necessarily have to mean that it will always be good." He spoke, "And it will be terrible, but great." He repeated, and then turned around to face Arashi, and for the first time, his son seemed like he was truly unreachable.

Snapping out of his stupor, Naruto sent him a sheepish smile. "Ah, forget it. Let's go back. I think I've had enough fresh air to clear my thoughts out." Arashi nodded and followed after his son, and as they walked back together, it was then that he noticed that Naruto completely avoided answering his question.

"_It looks like it's going to rain."_

_  
"Why would you say that?"_

Something was definitely coming. Naruto could feel it. His cerulean eyes narrowed intensely.

'And I'll be damned if I'm not ready to face it!' He didn't know what was going to happen because if the Yondaime was alive then what else has changed?

There was no doubt that that snake, Orochimaru, was planning something but he had absolutely no idea what it was. There were just so many possibilities. Too many things to consider that Naruto didn't think that planning too far ahead would be wise just until he got his fill of information or just in case other things changed and took an unexpected turn as well. The snake sannin wouldn't ever—_ever_ make the same mistake twice. Not that he ever could anyway because with the Fourth being alive and kicking, Naruto knew that his existence could possibly change everything. Naruto mildly wondered if the snake even knew that the Yondaime was alive.

'I'll need to speak with the fox soon.' He thought, sighing in resignation and bringing a hand up to pull his bangs in frustration.

That was the upside; the downside was that Orochimaru wouldn't be after the Sharingan anymore, he didn't need it anymore. The chuunin didn't know what he was after but it was definitely not something that would be for the good and benefit of the Sannin's former village. From what Naruto gathered, based on observations and assumptions as of late, and not only was all the information of his life and techniques "transferred" but so was his chakra. He too, felt stronger than before which made no sense since it should have been the opposite. The only explanation he could think of was that both of their chakra reserves had combined somehow. That would also be insinuating that the other Naruto's spirit didn't transfer to his world or that he was suppressing it, but that he somehow didn't have one at the time which meant that he had to dead when he arrived.

Bringing up another hand to accompany the other at pulling at his hair, Naruto shook his head trying to rid the headache that he knew was coming.

It was time to start his training. There was just so little time and the snake was definitely too unpredictable, especially with his knowledge of the future. First thing's first, though, he had some scouting to do.

'Maybe I can ask the Fourth some questions. I wonder if that would be too suspicious.' The blonde weighed the thoughts in his mind. 'I'll just try to find the most I can on my own for now, at least. I need to know the differences between this world and mine as fast as possible.'

"Since when did you get all supernatural and in 'tune' with your surroundings?"

"I didn't and I'm not. It's just something that I remember."

"What did you see, then?"

"Didn't I just tell you?"

"No. You told me what you read."

"It's an omen, supposedly."

"An omen?"

"Yeah, a bad omen."

"Hmm…"

"Don't take it to heart, though. It's just something I recall." The blonde spoke in a daze, waving it off-handedly, but Minato could see the tension in his son's form. "It's like most superstitions out there."

The blond Kage paused for a moment and 'hmmed' in thought. "Like what?"

"You know," Naruto trailed off indifferently, "a facedown leaf in your tea, a flock of ravens flying overheard, hiding your thumb in your fist at a funeral, cutting your nails at night, and so on and so forth.

Minato creased his forehead in confusion. "Hiding your thumb, cutting your nails? I've never heard any of those before."

Naruto sighed, running his hand through his hair in a familiar gesture that the other blonde had associated with his son having heavy thoughts on his mind. No one spoke, but Minato waited patiently, knowing his answer would come.

Another sigh was heard before Naruto started to speak in a soft voice, causing Minato's gaze to focus on him through the corner of his eye. "Hiding your thumb in your fist as a coffin passes you by, is considered protection. Thumb can be directly translated as 'parent-finger.'" He wiggled his thumb around unconsciously, much to the other's amusement. "To hide our thumb is hiding your parent from harm, otherwise they'll die."

"Cutting your nails at night, on the other hand, is a superstition stating that the person will not be with their parents at their deathbed, whether it is because of an absence from an unfortunate event, or..."

_Or if the child is already dead…_

Minato closed his eyes. "Well, something is going to happen sooner or later, don't you think? Peace doesn't settle and whether this omen was seen or not, eventually something great will come. Terrible or not, no matter how much I wish it to stay in times of peace; it is a foolish hope. Nothing can prevent the events that will eventually come from man's folly."

"Hmm…"

"What?"

"Nothing, just nothing," the blonde replied, gaze seemingly locked on something far away. A small humorless smile graced his lips. "You actually sounded wise for a moment is all."

Instead of taking offense, Minato, who had his eyes fixed on his son the whole time sighed, 'Does he ever smile sincerely?' He knew that a tired, wistful smile made its way onto his face even though no one was there to see it.

'Thinking about it now, did he even before his attack? There's little to compare it to since he always scowled and sneered. He never sneers and rarely scowls now, and when he does it's only when we tease.'

'All I see are the fake smiles.'

"Gaki."

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Naruto groaned mentally and felt like slapping himself in the face and dragging it down just to show his exasperation but refrained from doing so to avoid further embarrassment. He was giving himself a headache. 'Damn. I personally don't think that I can take any more surprises. I'm starting to think that I'm slowly going crazy…well, I actually thought that already, but that's not the point! Maybe that was the objective of this genjutsu, to drive people into madness or false security.' Hmm…that's food for his thoughts.

He decided to scout out the academy for a short while just to see if there was anything that was majorly different, but an academy is an academy. The boring classes with their yelling teachers and lectures that were filled with more useless information than needed were all the same.

'Back to the problem at hand…apparently…here, I'm a spoiled, conceded brat. That's a first. No wonder people were looking at me weird. Hmm...how to deal with this, how to deal with this.' The blonde tapped the side of his head in a thoughtful manner before sighing and flopping down onto the platform of the roof. He lay there awake with his closed eyes, 'I got nothing.'

The only thing that came to him was to just he himself. Not his other self, mind you, but his real self. No other Naruto, no fixed masks to hide behind—well, at least no happy, cheerful masks to hide behind. He couldn't say anything about the other ones.

It was then that he heard a loud commotion coming down from the schoolyard. Opening his eyes in irritation, Naruto shielded his eyes from the sudden light with one hand while staring across the sky. The noise volume only seemed to get louder, so he lazily hauled himself up to see what all the fuss was about. Naruto slowly walked toward the fence that bordered the edges of the roof, gripping at it with his hands slightly above his head while his leaned his weigh against his forearms.

There was a fight going on between some of the kids. Cerulean eyes sharpened, narrowing dangerously as he assessed what seemed more like a gang of bullies beating down on one kid.

_Chouji…_

He remembered how Chouji was often made fun of and picked on, and personally, he thought it was better than getting glared and sneered at, but it still wasn't an overall pleasant feeling. The kids mostly backed off after the larger boy made a friend out of Shikamaru, and since the lazy brunette wasn't here...things definitely would not end well.

Hmm…this world certainly was a rocky ride, defining his life back in the other world perfectly, ironically enough. Who wouldn't be happy about that? Looking up to the sky and suddenly having the urge to scream at the gods.

_Goddamn bastards…_

The blonde sighed once again. He really should do something. Damn it. Why does everything require so much movement? Shaking his head in exasperation at his own train of thought, Naruto seriously was sounding just like Shikamaru. One was enough to drive people up the wall, and the blonde really didn't need to be anyone's punching bag, as shown from the Nara's unfortunate team ups with bossy, boisterous women.

Yes. One Nara was enough. His father didn't count, though, because Shikamaru was undoubtedly more lazy and more of a pushover between the two anyway.

Wait, wasn't there something he was supposed to be doing? Hmm, he really needed a larger attention span. 'I remember now!' The blonde mentally cheered, 'I was supposed to restock on my medical supplies! Oh, and Chouji getting beat up.' Naruto's mental cheering stopped abruptly. 'Whoops.'

He turned and walked to the roof's exit. As he strolled to the tree, whose shade shielded the kids from view of the teachers. Naruto was growing increasingly agitated from the insults that quickly reminded him of those that he often received.

"Hey!" he spoke in a calm but firm voice.

Naruto was not surprised that they were all older academy students, quirking a brow as he saw Chouji shrink back when he caught sight of him. 'Please don't tell me…'

"Hey, Naruto! You want a piece of this pig before he gut him?" The one who spoke laughed loudly followed by the others. The boy was the biggest and tallest out of the other three that flanked his sides, holding a chubby stature similar to Chouji except the blonde doubted that it would turn into useful muscle like the Akimichis. He had small eyes and a flat nose that did nothing for his chubby face that was hardly surrounded by short brown hair. Naruto also knew that none of them would get anywhere in the shinobi world, if they somehow managed to pass the final test to become a genin. This boy was what he supposed was the second leader if what nightmare made him the leader.

'Kami kill me now. God, I should just do it myself because it's faster.'

"No." He spoke curtly, watching with dark narrowed eyes as the other shrugged carelessly, unknowing of the incoming doom that was to befall his existence.

"Suit yourself," he turned back to Chouji, rearing his right arm back and bringing his fist down only to have his wrist held in place inches before it made impact with the Akimichi's face. The boy's face turned to him and Naruto was amused by the scrunched, confused expression on the other's face.

"What's the deal, Naruto? Tori's just teaching the fatso a lesson!" A lanky boy with large buck teeth and unsightly carrot-orange hair that clashed horribly with his neon green and yellow shirt and pants, spoke out. The boy almost stumbled back at the intensity of Naruto's gaze as he studied him.

Naruto cringed, resisting the urge to turn his gaze elsewhere, suddenly getting the feeling of what everyone else thought of him when he wore that god awful orange jumpsuit that clashed with his blonde hair.

He didn't bother observing the other boys. So Tori was the big guy's name…

"I think you misunderstood what I just said." Shivers ran through everyone's bodies as Naruto calm and soothing voice rang in their ears. The blonde stared at each of them, eyes darkening to a deep blue and eyelids fluttering down dangerously, but none of them could look away.

"You will cease your idiocy and foolishness," his tone soft and rigid.

"Wha-"

"Before I _make_ you," Chouji sat frozen at the deceiving tone the blonde held. He could swear that his eyes were chips of ice that sent a chill through him.

Tori looked like he was going to protest, but snapped his mouth shut and ushered the others away. Naruto knew what the gaze shot at him meant. _If you're not with us, you're against us._ He sighed when they were out of sight, he was really hoping he wouldn't see them around in the future, but knowing his luck…

He didn't want to jinx it, after all.

It was funny how fast the other Naruto's friends turned on him. It was pathetic, if he was being completely honest, but perhaps they weren't even friends. 'Lackeys' would be a better term, waiting for their turn to stab you in the back and take your place on top. Naruto found that he was right with the lack of devotion and loyalty when he was technically the "traitor."

Oh, the irony of it all.

He snapped out of it when he heard something hiss in pain and spun around, forgetting that Chouji was there.

"You okay?" Chouji had the back of his hand against the side of his face, checking to see if any blood had surfaced. He looked up in surprise at the voice, momentarily forgetting that the blonde was still there.

"Y-yeah," The larger boy stuttered, shuffling around nervously, "I think so."

Naruto simply nodded, and Chouji thought he was going to get a verbal bashing, or if he was lucky, then the other boy would just leave him with only an insult or two. He was too deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice when Naruto began to prod and search around for something in his pockets. Finding what he was looking for, the blond moved toward the redhead. It didn't need to be said that he was shocked speechless when the boy slowly kneeled before him.

Naruto knew that Chouji was staring at him, choosing to ignore him as the other continued to look up at him slack-jawed with an awed—more like surprised—expression that Naruto really wished wasn't there. Was he really that much of a brat that his other couldn't even help someone to save his own life without gaining some sort of benefit off it?

He was starting to get the distinct impression that the past Naruto wouldn't do anything worthwhile even if he did gain something from it. That was definitely not good, not good at all.

Chouji saw the blonde bring forth a small capsule and before he could process what was happening, Naruto was already spreading some sort of balm against his cheek. The redhead froze in shock or fear, he didn't really know, not daring to move as Naruto looked him over for any other injuries, finding some bruises and scrapes on his arms and legs before applying the salve. Naruto sighed softly; it was fortunately nothing too serious to worry over.

When he was finished, the blonde stood up, feeling the gaze of Chouji's stare and making sure the avoid any eye contact with the other boy before he turned to leave without saying word.

"W-wait!" Chouji didn't know what made him shout out to the blonde, but he found himself eagerly awaiting the other's reaction. He saw Naruto pause in his step, and took the initiative, swallowing down his fear as he opened his mouth. "T-Thank you."

It was then that the blonde stopped completely, turning a bit and looking at the larger boy through the corner of his eye. They stayed frozen there for a few seconds, and Chouji was the first to turn away unnerved, not understanding the meaning of the blonde's gaze.

When he heard nothing, the red head thought that the Yondaime's son left him, bored with his presence and the silence. Dark brown eyes widened as he glanced up cautiously only to see the same person standing there in the exact spot as before, a small amused smile flickering across the blonde's lips.

'Same old Chouji.'

He nodded then turned and continued on his way, but not before tossing the capsule of balm in the redhead's direction for future use. He didn't need it anyway.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'One more day to go.' Naruto rested his forehead against the cool hard surface of the glass mirror. He would be going back to the academy tomorrow. Oh, joy to heaven on earth! His gaze on his reflection went to settle on his bandages. They were becoming annoying and itchy as he didn't bother to change them, but he wondered if they even healed like they normally do with the fox low and resting.

He cautiously removed the bandages and saw that his cuts were shallow already mostly healed by the fox. Naruto was actually a bit surprised that the cuts weren't already completely healed but that was just another thing that he had to ask the demon. It most likely had to do with his long time periods of sleeping from all the large amount of chakra that was used and needed to be replaced. It looked like they would be gone soon without so much as a blemish on his skin. Naruto sighed in what seemed like disappointment or relief, he didn't know, but he wasn't sure if he should be feeling either right now.

'Thanks, Kyuu.' He sent the thought through his mind, and even though he didn't receive a reply, Naruto was pretty sure the fox heard him unless he was sleeping, which has recently been most of the time.

"**Gaki."**

The blonde genuinely smiled into his reflection in the mirror for the first time in what felt like a long, long time before blinking in surprise. He ran out of his room and into the closest unused training ground he could find, hurriedly settling under the shade of a tree and getting into a meditative position.

His mind was definitely less muddled. It was still a bit of a mess and foggy but at least he was able to make out some things rather than nothing. He turned around and caught the glowing red eyes of the Nine Tailed demon fox. It was a bit hard to make out but Naruto could see the outline of his form. He didn't understand what was going on at all. The fox had some explaining to do for this mess.

"Kyuu!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise. "Y-you're awake." he stuttered much to the amusement of the demon looking down upon him. **"You don't sound particularly happy about it."**

The blonde just stared up at him for a moment before snorting and turning away. "Yeah, well, you wouldn't be particularly happy either to be stuck in a sort of mind game with no way of knowing how to deal with people that are supposed to be—oh, I don't know—dead!" He shouted, getting a bit hysterical as he prepared to begin another, much longer rant which the fox had no intention of listening to and decided to interrupt before he even started.

"**Don't you dare put the blame on me!"** Kyuubi hissed, baring his fangs in anger. **"I understand your misconception, but there is no need to bare your anger on the one who has done everything possible to assist you."**

The blonde paid no heed to the fox's words, taking in a few shaky breaths. "Assist me? You haven't assisted me at all! I'm so confused and I-I don't know what to do or how to handle it!" He whispered harshly.

The atmosphere suddenly seemed to thicken and Naruto tensed his shoulders as a chill went down his spine. **"Well, pardon my impertinence then,"** the fox stated derisively, **"because you seem to be handling it just **_**fine**_** to me."**

Cerulean eyes narrowed, seething and ready to burst with quiet anger. "What are you saying?"

"**I'm saying that turning suicidal while I'm absent is not handling it very well, no matter if you 'don't know how!'"**

"And it certainly didn't help in least when you decide to nap a week away while I'm living in a nightmare that I can't seem to get out of-" It was this moment that the fox cut in, growling in offense at the insinuation. **"Excuse me, but I don't recall being the one that was killed,"** Kyuubi replied harshly,** "and by that snake, no less."** He jeered. **"It's a disgrace!"** Naruto recoiled as if he had been struck and turned his face away, refusing to meet the eyes of the nine-tailed demon.

Silence rang through the clearing in a tense and eerie chill that could undoubtedly be heard by both parties. Both ends simply wouldn't speak or look the other in eyes. Their pride was too great to allow that. An unknown amount to time seemed to pass as the outside world most likely stood at an almost definite standstill. A few seconds passed before Naruto straightened himself, eyes downcast and hair obscuring much of his face as he turned and left the plane without a word or glance efficiently cutting off the link between the two before the demon could say a word.

It was often that the blonde would sever their link, but on the occasion that he chose, their thoughts would be their own and protected from the other. The Kyuubi would be aware of what was happening as he always was, but he would be unable to communicate with the blonde shinobi for as long as the blonde wished it.

He needed time to think on his own in complete privacy. Something that he just realized he hasn't gotten in a long time. He's hasn't done a lot of things in a long time.

He's forgotten how to live.

Blinking his eyes clear, Naruto sat in his slouched position for a few moments before getting up and walking away from the training grounds. The blonde chuunin took his time walking around the village careful to avoid the main pathways of the village. He wasn't too sure how he'd react if he was to suddenly see Uchiha Itachi walking around with no supervision and free to move as he pleased as one of Konoha's shinobi. Naruto mentally snorted at the ridiculous idea. Now that would probably give him a heart attack.

"Naruto," the blonde jumped, turning wide eyes to the person who caught him off guard.

Minato watched as the boy jolted in surprise, focusing his slightly shocked and panicked eyes on his form before hiding them away quickly. If he wasn't looking for it, the older man would have likely missed it.

"Let's head on home." He didn't bother asking what his son was doing. By the looks of it, he wouldn't budge on whatever got him so caught up that he wouldn't notice his approach. He made sure to create some extra noise, so that his son would get the idea but it didn't matter either way because he still didn't notice it seems.

Naruto nodded, too lost in thought, absently taking the hand that the Yondaime offered him, surprising the man when he didn't let go. Naruto wasn't aware that he forgot to release the other man's hand, letting himself be dragged along. His quiet, pensive countenance caused him to be the target for Minato's constant worried glances. As they walked, the older blonde gazed down at him when Naruto's grip against his hand tightened unconsciously. He was embarrassed, the taller male realized, with his head lowered and a red tinge spread across his cheeks that barely visible as a few villagers caught the "father-son scene" and began whispering. Naruto never noticed that the grip that he initiated was reciprocated, enveloping his smaller hand with warmth, or that as the Fourth led him through one of the quieter pathways home, Minato made sure to keep him close and against his side the whole way.

The elder looked down at the mop of blonde hair that walked beside him. _His son._

Minato smiled.

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Haha…you can probably guess who's going to show up next, huh? I haven't officially decided if that will be a good or bad thing, but I think I have a pretty good idea. Wellz…this chapter is the longest chapter I have ever written!! Haha…I'm trying plow through even though I really have no motivation anymore. My other stories are still on but it will take time before I can really post anything. I'm trying my best and I hope that you guys will keep up with my stories!! Please give any thoughts or comments you feel and don't forget to review! I really appreciate it! See you next time! =]

Please Review!

Much Love!

xxFrozenSn0wxx


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